


Genetic Jolt!

by Wherever_Girl



Category: Fangface (Cartoon)
Genre: Family, Fangs and Puggsy have a kid lol!, Humor, Other, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-16 08:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21504538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wherever_Girl/pseuds/Wherever_Girl
Summary: After an archeological adventure turns out to be a super-science scheme, the gang try to thwart a villain's experiment... but as a result, wind up with a kid on their hands-- -and Fangs and Puggsy are the proud fathers!Read as the gang take care of Dustin, going through the trials of raising a child and teaching him about the world around him... while having to keep him safe from the vengeance of their enemies! (Hey, no one said being a parent was easy!)*Transferred from my DeviantArt profile*





	1. Prologue

_‘Ages ago, when Nihon was still young, there was a young monarch known as Prince Len Tao IV, who ruled alongside his father during trialing times. One day, the young prince lost his father to an assassin, and was forced to flee his kingdom when the enemy laid siege on his palace._

_‘Len Tao travelled to the mountains, weary and shamed--- not only had he no strength to defend his kingdom, but he also fled like a coward, leaving his father’s kingdom in the hands of a fiend. He vowed to become stronger and take back the palace, avenging his father and bringing glory back to his home._

_‘The young prince came across a temple--- the training grounds of the samurai warriors. The first samurai to greet him was Lupe, Tai. Being one of the strongest students at the temple, he offered to practice with Len Tao and show him the Ways of the Samurai. Both of them were trained by their sensei, one known as the Yokai Warrior._

_‘For several years the two trained together, growing stronger--- their strength great when combined together. Once Len Tao was ready, he returned to his village; Tai, having built a bond with his fellow-samurai, went with him._

_‘Together, they defeated the enemy forces and reclaimed the kingdom. After such a battle between two young men and 5,000 soldiers, they were soon renamed as Prince Rogue and Master Lupe. Together, they took on armies from every opposition, their strength invincible against their foes!_

_‘Unfortunately, the two were so immersed with the power they had in battle, that it shadowed the power of their hearts. Master Lupe and Prince Rogue seeked to rule all of Nihon and conquer all the lands. Many nations rallied to stop their reign of tyranny, but none succeeded. Japan was doomed to fall into darkness._

_‘The only hope lied with the Yokai Warrior. Feeling ashamed for being the one who trained such tyrants, their former-sensei took it upon himself to vanquish his once-prized pupils. The battle lasted from dusk until dawn, people fearing that even the teacher of Lupe and Rogue could not stop them!_

_‘But, the Yokai Warrior had not taught his students everything, for he kept a few tricks to himself, should any of his students let their hearts turn dark. Using these powers, he defeated Lupe and Rogue, sealing them away in a tomb deep in the caves._

_‘Sadly, the battle drained their sensei of his energy, and he died two days later, buried in the same tomb of his students as a final wish. They say only those with pure hearts may enter the tomb... should they be lucky to find it.’_

~W~

“…And that is why I called for your help,” Professor Liana Yang said to the group of teenagers, riding with her in the SUV, which was filled with archaeological equipment needed for her expedition. “I have heard stories about how you assisted scientists in the past. My own team was unavailable for the weekend, and I needed all the help I could get.”

“We’re happy to help,” a reddish-brunette teenage boy, Biff, was the first to reply. He was seated in the passenger seat, looking at the road-map. “So, where is the tomb located?”

“Deep within the Yokai Caverns. The legend says the caves were named in tribute to the Yokai Warrior, but as centuries passed the legend turned to myth, and the myth was forgotten long after. Now everyone believes that the Yokai Caverns are named after the demons that haunt it… or so the rumor goes.”

“D-D-D-Demons?!” came a yelp from the far back. Stuffed back there with the equipment was a tall, lanky teen with curly light-brown hair covered by a reddish-orange baseball cap. He then tried to crawl over the backseat. “Stop the car! Pull over! No one said ANYTHING about us exploring some dark caves filled with demons!”

“Sit back, Fangs! And don’t break anything back there!” a shorter, well-built teenage boy with black hair wearing a gray fedora snapped, pushing Fangs back with his fist. “If we have to turn back and buy ANOTHER pick-axe, it’s going through your head!”

“(Puggsy, calm down),” A mocha-skinned teenage girl, Kim, whispered. She then looked back at Fangs. “Don’t worry, Fangs. Yokai don’t consist of just demons. Some are considered spirits, and often bring luck to others who encounter them.”

“I don’t care what kind of Yoplait or whatever we encounter--- if there’s monsters in the cave, I’m not going in!” Fangs sneered, crossing his arms. “And you can’t make me!”

~W~

Half an hour later, the group reached the mountains… and Fangs was standing at the mouth of the caves with Puggsy. “I can NOT believe you’re making me do this!” he sneered, then glared at his friend. “And the rope isn’t necessary!”

Puggsy, who had tied a rope around his friend (in order to keep him from running away), gave it a firm tug. “Believe me, it is.” He responded.

“We’re all set,” Biff stated, as he and Kim carried over a couple packs. He turned to Liana. “How far deep are the tombs, do you suppose?”

“According to my geologist colleague, at least 500 feet underground--- though it’s an estimate,” Liana stated. Her cell phone rang just then. “Oh, hang on, it’s the office,” She answered, turning her back to the teens. “Professor Yang. …Yes? …I see…”

“Seriously, can’t I just stay behind and make sure no one steals the equipment?” Fangs begged, crossing and uncrossing his legs.

“You’re going, that’s final.” Puggsy ordered.

“Why are YOU always making decisions for me?”

“To make sure you don’t make a stupid one. They’re just caves! The only creepifying thing you’ll find in there is a bat--- and that’s only if you scream and wake them up.”

“It’ll be alright, Fangs. We’ll be with you,” Kim assured. “Now get your pack, we’ll be heading down in a minute,”

Fangs bounced in-place, his legs completely crossed. “But I have to pee…!” he whined.

“I thought you went before we left!” Biff questioned.

“That was before my bladder refilled with fear!”

“Oh for the love of…!” Puggsy groaned, face-palming. “Fine--- just go in the bushes, but hurry it up! I’d like to get this expedictation over with while it’s still daylight.”

“I’m afraid we won’t be going anywhere today,” Liana sighed, hanging up her phone. “I’m needed back at the university--- it seems the secretary made a fluke in the schedule, and I have to give a presentation at 5 o’clock,” she looked at her watch, which read 10:30 AM. “*sigh* It will take me at least two hours to get everything together. …I’m sorry, everyone. I suppose the caverns will remain unexplored until another day.”

Fangs beamed. “Well, that’s too bad! I guess we’ll be packing up and heading out. Who wants sushi?” he said, slipping out of the ropes and rubbing his hands together.

“Wait, what if we explored the caves ourselves?” Biff suggested. “At least scout ahead and find some safe paths,”

Fangs gave Biff a look. “(No, Biff! No! Don’t volunteer--- get spicy tuna-rolls!)”

“Can it!” Puggsy hissed, elbowing Fangs.

“I’m not sure. It would be unprofessional to allow unauthorized personnel to go on an expedition without supervision.” Liana said, thinking to herself. “The tombs are rumored to have traps. I could never forgive myself if something were to happen to any of you,”

“We’ll be careful. We’ll just scout ahead--- perhaps even mark any signs of the traps.” Kim suggested, looking at Liana’s notes.

“Yeah--- we’ve explorified so many entrapped caves it’s easy to spot one anywhere!” Puggsy added.

“I suggest we avoid traps altogether and take the day off,” Fangs whimpered.

Puggsy gave him a glare. “And I suggest you shut YOUR trap,”

Liana pondered. “You all do have experience… No, I cannot---“ she stated, shaking her head. “It is simply too dangerous!”

All the teens exchanged glances. “Believe me, we’ve come across worse things than trap-filled tombs,” Biff stated.

“Plus… we’ve got an ace in the hole if anything does happen,” Kim stated, slipping a folded piece of paper in and out of the pocket of her cargo-shorts.

“We do?” Fangs asked, confused.

Liana sighed. “Alright. If you feel confident,” she said. “But I suggest only going thirty feet deep underground, and turn back at any sign of suspicion!”

Fangs pointed at the cave. “The entrance looks suspicious. Can we turn back now?”

Puggsy, growing more and more irritated with his best friend, grabbed the rope and tied him up--- while having tied a cloth around his mouth. He grinned at Liana, arms crossed. “We can handle it,” he assured her.

The archaeologist nodded. “Call me if you find anything--- oh! Speaking of which…” she handed Kim a couple of laminated pictures, copies taken from a book it seemed. The pictures were of Master Lupe and Prince Rogue. “In case the tombs are closer to the surface than I guessed, try to bring back some items with you--- the helmet of the prince and the headband of the samurai are the most primary artifacts I seek.”

“I’m not so sure about being a tomb-raider…” Biff stated. “Maybe take photographs, but---“

“It isn’t tomb-raiding. The items should be located outside of the sarcophagi. And… it is dire to my reputation to bring back physical evidence.”

Biff arched an eyebrow. “Dire to your reputation?”

Liana nodded. “Yes… You see, none of the other archaeologists believe that the legend is true--- they think that it is all myths and rumors. That is why the tombs are undiscovered--- no one wants to search for something they believe to be fiction. Mere photographs would not be enough--- they would believe them to be a hoax, and I would have my title revoked.” She looked back at the caverns. “I really should go with you…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll bring back the helmet, headband--- and anything else to prove the legend is true!” Kim proclaimed.

“Yeah--- we’ll bring back so much proof, they’ll have to build an entire museum for it all!” Puggsy exclaimed.

Fangs managed to shake off his gag. “Would I get a discount on souvenirs for helping discover it?” he asked.

Liana took a deep breath, then let it out, smiling. “Alright. I trust you kids--- just be careful! I’d hate to have to call in my excavation crew from their vacation to dig you out,” she joked, climbing into her jeep. “I’ll be back this evening after my presentation. Remember--- no more than 30 feet underground, and turn back at the first sign of any traps!”

“You got it! We’ll see you this evening,” Biff said.

Liana drove off. Once the gang was sure they had all their supplies, they headed inside the caverns.

Fangs--- still tied up--- followed. “Um, guys? …Can I use the bushes, first?” he asked.

Puggsy’s groan echoed down the tunnels.

~W~

Liana was twenty miles from the caverns when she got another call. “Professor Yang,” she answered.

“ _Are they on their way in?”_ asked a voice.

She chuckled. “Yes, they bought the act. I will return this evening to check their progress,”

_“And you are sure they are… ‘capable’ of entering the tomb? The legend says those with impure hearts will be buried with the dead beneath the rubble of the mountain,”_

“I remember, and I have done research behind these teens--- they will help anyone in danger, even at the cost of their own lives! They’re the diamonds in the roughs we have been looking for.” Liana paused, arching an eyebrow. “…Why does that sound familiar?”

_“Let us hope you are correct. We need that helmet and headband, if we wish to succeed!”_

“Do not worry. I have absolute faith they will retrieve them,” Liana grinned wickedly. “Everything is going according to plan.”

_“So far, you mean. Meet me in the lab tonight--- IF you get the artifacts.”_

“I will. You can count on that, Yin.”

The call ended, and Liana drove on, still smirking to herself. Hiring the teens to explore the caves for her went better than she expected--- they practically volunteered to go in on their own, just to ‘help’ her with a ‘simple expedition’. She was afraid that she would have to convince them to go inside the tomb… but as it turns out, they were more of saints than she realized!

They would find the helmet and headband… not knowing that the possessions of two ex-warriors were going to be used for something outside of ‘proving some legend true’.

Something quite… malevolent.

And they would not discover the truth until it was too late!

Yes.

Everything was going according to plan.


	2. Tomb Trouble

It had been an hour since the teens entered the caves, yet so far they had yet to go even 2 feet underground. The tunnels stretched on for miles, so dark that their flashlights could only shine so far. Most of their time was spent coming across dead ends, or large pits too vast to see downward. They backtracked so many times that it was no surprise a rut hadn’t formed in their wake!

Fangs continually looked around, not for any signs of the tomb, but on the lookout for any monsters rumored to be haunting the caves. Every time a rat squeaked, a bat flew by, or water dripped from a moist stalactite above into a tiny puddle, he yelped and clung to Puggsy--- who, in turn, shoved him away with a glare.

“We should take a break,” Biff sighed after three hours passed, lighting a lantern so their flashlights could preserve power. He sat down, digging through his pack and drinking water from a canteen. “These caves just go on forever.”

“Ooh, ooh, maybe we should head back.” Fangs said, looking at his watch. “It’ll be dark by the time we get out--- and I do NOT want to be here after dark!”

“I hate to admit it, but Fangs has a point,” Puggsy sighed, looking around at the cave walls. “We’ve been down here for hours, and found nothing but deep pits, vermin, and dead ends. Chances are, it’s probably locerated on the other side of the mountain!”

“You may be right. I haven’t seen a single path that could lead further into these caves…” Biff began to say.

“Guys! Over here!” Kim called, having been exploring one end of the tunnel. The boys rushed over, seeing Kim standing by a wide precipice, shining her flashlight down it. “There’s something down there,”

Biff crouched down at the edge. Rubbing his chin, he grabbed the lantern and tied a rope to it, lowering it down as far as it could go. Halfway down the lantern lit up the pit…

Showing a circular cave with stone slabs lining the walls, filled with jewels, busts, robes, armors, and weapons! In the middle of the cavern were two rectangular stone cases, the tops of them carved to look like two men--- the sarcophagi of Master Lupe and Prince Rogue!

“Wow! They were closer than we thought!” Biff exclaimed.

“Eh, not that close, Biff--- it looks like a 50-foot drop from here!” Puggsy analyzed, his voice echoing. “…give or take a few inches.”

“And the professor said we could only go 30-feet down--- oh well! We can just tell her where it’s at and she and her team can do the--- Kim, what are you doing?” Fangs began to state, doing a double-take when he noticed Kim tying a rope around a stalagmite, securing it to a loop in her belt.

“I’m going to get a closer look,” Kim replied, then began to climb over the edge!

“Hold it, there has to be another way down,” Biff spoke up, looking around. “How could they have built the tomb so far deep, and not have a way back to the surface?”

“Fangs and me will look--- you can help Kim get down the rest of the way,” Puggsy stated, walking down the tunnel.

“(sure, volunteer _my_ services…)” Fangs mumbled, not exactly keen on going deeper down a dark tunnel.

“The rest of th--- Kim!” Biff looked, seeing that Kim was already five feet over the edge. “Be careful!”

“Don’t worry--- I mastered rock-climbing Freshman Year in highschool, remember?” Kim replied, looking below and watching her footing. She reached the point where the lantern hung and slipped the handle over her arm, using it to light her way.

As she made her way down, she looked around the tomb. There were many gems on the tables, perhaps a tribute to pay respect to the dead. Along the walls were small openings, carved in the shape of monstrous-features with gaping mouths, with rubies encrusted in the pupils of their eyes. There were also pedestals on some of the walls with busts or small statues of different creatures.

However, she was so focused on the details of the tomb that she forgot to watch her footing, and her heel missed an outcrop, causing her to slip! Gasping she clung to the rope, kicking her legs as she tried to regain her balance. She planted her feet firmly on the wall, and she took a breath.

“Is everything alright?” Biff called.

“Yeah,” Kim said… then felt the rope jerk downward.

She looked up… seeing that her rope was starting to come undone, holding on by five threads--- then four--- three--- two…!

“Actually--- no!”

*Snap!*

“Kim!” Biff called, trying to grab the rope, but it slipped through his fingers.

Kim screamed as she fell the rest of the way—

Landing in Fangs and Puggsy’s arms. “Gotcha!” the shorter teen exclaimed.

“G-Guys!” Kim gasped in relief, hugging them both. “But… how’d you get down here so fast?”

Fangs thumbed over his shoulder at another tunnel-mouth… which had a set of steps that curved upward. “We found the stairs.” He said.

“Where are they located?” Biff called down.

“Walk down the tunnel for five minutes, turn left, and look for the small opening behind a samurai carving,” Puggsy replied. “…If you come across an indoor pond, you’ve gone too far,”

Biff followed the directions, finding the opening and went down the stairs, meeting up with the others. “Well… at least we know we won’t have to climb back up,” Kim joked.

“Are you okay?” Biff asked her.

Kim rolled her eyes, smiling. “I’m fine, Biff--- keep in mind, we’ve been through worse,” she waved them ahead. “Now, c’mon! Let’s check out the tomb,”

Biff nodded, letting out a sigh. Puggsy patted him on the back. “Keep up the concern, Biff--- you’ll win her over sooner or later,” he quipped with a grin.

“W-What? I was just worried she’d gotten hurt,” Biff scoffed.

“You’re always worried about her, ain’t ya?” Fangs snickered.

Biff looked at the two of them. “What?! A guy can’t be concerned about his best friend?”

“Not at the levels you reach,” Puggsy commented..

The leader shook his head. “C’mon--- we have artifacts to find,” with that, he hurried ahead, walking beside Kim.

Fangs and Puggsy exchanged grins. “He digs her,” Fangs stated.

“Without a doubt,” Puggsy agreed.

The gang walked around the cave, looking at all the items on the tables. “Careful what you touch, everyone--- any of these items could be rigged,” Biff advised, recalling a few Indiana Jones films where treasures always set off traps.

“I wonder why there are so many things down here,” Kim questioned, looking at some pottery. “Did this all belong to the warriors, or was it more of a tribute?”

“Either way, I have no idea.” Puggsy stated, looking at some armor. “It’s not like they could take it all with ‘em,”

“Just keep an eye out for the helmet and the headband,” Biff stated, looking at the picture. “The helmet was in the shape of a dragon, and the headband was black with a white circle on it,”

Everyone looked around the slabs, but found nothing of the sort. Kim, however, paused at one small slab located in the center; on the slab was a small red and gold tube with an inscription on it, written in Japanese. “The Power… of the Yokai… Warrior?” she translated. She studied the scroll and the slab it was on, checking to make sure there were no trip-wires, switches, or any other traps attached to it; once she was sure it was safe, she picked it up.

She opened the tube, finding a scroll inside. Unrolling it, she saw a long line of Japanese text… which began to glow! She gasped, dropping the scroll, and the glow faded--- the parchment rolled back up on its own. Kim picked it up, looking at the scroll. _What on earth…?_ She wondered.

“Did you find something?” Biff asked, walking over.

“Yeah… this scroll… it’s about the Yokai Warrior’s power,” Kim answered, still a bit surprised. “I think it might be magic…”

“Magic? How do you mean?”

Before Kim could answer, Puggsy let out a whistle. “Hey, guys! Over here! We found ‘em!” he called, as he and Fangs were standing by a wall… looking up.

Up the wall on two pedestals were two busts carved in the likeness of Lupe and Rogue. On the busts were the helmet and headband. “Alright! Nice job, you two!” Kim exclaimed.

“Yeah. Now how do we get them down?” Biff asked, as the pedestals seemed to be almost fifteen feet high.

Everyone looked at each other.

…

A good ten minutes later, Puggsy stood by the wall gripping Biff’s ankles as the leader stood on his shoulders; Fangs was trying to keep his balance on Biff’s shoulders; and Kim was standing on the lanky teen’s shoulders. At their attempt of being a human-ladder, the teens tried their best to keep steady.

“Couldn’t we (oof) just climb the wall?! We brought a pickaxe for a reason!” Puggsy grunted.

“Too late,” Biff replied. He wobbled a bit, gripping Fangs’ legs. “Fangs, try to keep steady!”

“I’m trying--- but you know I have a fear of heights!” Fangs stammered.

“Just don’t look down!” Kim stated, reaching for the headband. “I’ve almost got the headband…” she managed to hook her fingernail underneath it, pulling it off the bust. “I’ve got it! Over to the helmet!”

Puggsy, ever so carefully, took three steps to the left. “Whoa!/Easy!/Careful!/Yikes!” the teens yelped as they moved. Kim caught herself on the pedestal, draping the headband over her pack and grabbing the helmet with both hands.

“I got it!” she called… though at this point she was beginning to sway. “W-Whoa…!”

“Ow! Watch it!” Puggsy yelped as Biff’s heel dug into his neck.

“F-Fangs!” Biff cried as one of Fangs’ legs slipped off his shoulder.

“Yeow! Timbeeerrrrrrrr!” Fangs cried as the human-ladder collapsed!

*THUD!*

Once the dust cleared, the teens were in a pile--- Puggsy at the bottom, while Kim was at the top, gripping the helmet tightly; the headband ended up draped over Fangs’ eyes. “…I think I know why this job requires professionals…” the lanky teen murmured.

“Shut up, Fangs.” Puggsy groused.

As the teens achingly stood up to compose themselves, they failed to notice the pedestals began to slowly move into the wall.

“Well, we’ve got everything. Did you see anything else that looked safe to grab?” Biff asked, as the tomb looked to be like a museum in itself.

“I don’t think we could carry much,” Kim said, looking at the helmet; Fangs, in the meantime, was tying the headband around his head. “I think we should head out with what we’ve got. Just look at the details on this helmet!”

“Let me see,” Puggsy said, and Kim handed him the helmet. He held it up, checking out all the details. “Anyone who wore this probably felt like a badass in a war,”

“This headband is pretty cool, too--- I feel like a samurai just by wearing it!” Fangs exclaimed, then tried to do a few kicks and punches. Unfortunately, he wasn’t watching where he swung his arms and accidentally hit the helmet out of Puggsy’s hands!

“Whoa! Watch it!” Puggsy exclaimed as he dove to catch the airborne helmet---

*Clang!*

…which landed on his head, ending up stuck. “S-Sorry, Pugs!” Fangs stammered. “To be honest, it’s a good look for you…”

“Shut up and get this thing off my head!” Puggsy sneered. Fangs helped him pry off the helmet, and the shorter teen rubbed his head. “Geez, Fangs, learn to be more careful! We can’t risk anything---!”

*CRASH!*

Puggsy turned around, seeing pieces of a broken statue scattered on the ground right behind him! “…Breaking?”

“Look out!” Biff called, pulling the two out of harm’s way as another bust fell and shattered on the ground. The teens looked around, seeing that all the pedestals were starting to sink into the walls. “It’s a trap!”

“Quick! To the stairs!” Kim called, and the gang rushed towards their exit. Unfortunately, the stairs began to crumble and a few stalactites fell in their path, blocking the doorway! “Augh!”

Biff grabbed his rope, trying to lasso a stalagmite above, but his throw couldn’t reach. “Crap…!” he hissed.

Kim looked around, watching as water began to flood out of the open-mouthed statues carved in the walls, while stalactites continued to fall; not wasting any time, she put the headband, helmet, and scroll in her pack. “There’s only one thing to do in a time like this…” she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the piece of paper.

“Pray to God for mercy?” Fangs stammered, shaking.

“Fangs, look at this picture of the moon,” Kim held up the picture, which showed a full moon over a green field.

“How is that going to help---?!” Fangs began to question, but after looking at the picture his mind turned blank. His eyes swirled, his face shifted, smoke puffed out of his ears, and he began to spin.

Within moment, in Fangs’ place, stood a brown-haired werewolf with a single fang and baseball cap. “Arrroooooo!” Fangface howled, then immediately grabbed Puggsy. “I’ve gotcha now, Pugs! *grr* There’s no escaping THIS time!”

“It’s escaping we have to do! This place is about to collasperate on us!” Puggsy snapped, drawing the werewolf’s attention to the impending doom. “We need to get out of this tomb!”

“Ooh, ooh, you’re right! *snarl* Leave it to me!” Fangface then grabbed a rope… tied it to Puggsy… and threw his best friend clear up over the edge of the precipice!

*Thud!*

Puggsy hit the stone floor, seeing stars. “If we live through this… I’m going to kill that werewolf…” he groused, then tied the rope tight around a stalagmite, and waved to the others.

Biff and Kim hurriedly climbed the rope, while Fangface used his claws to scale the wall. Kim managed to get up to the ledge first, but a falling stalactite cut through the rope, causing Biff to fall--- Fangface, thankfully, caught the leader before he could hit the rising water. “Thanks, Fangface--- now lets hurry and get out of here!” Biff exclaimed.

The teens ran as fast as they could through the shaking tunnels; unfortunately they were having a heck of a time remembering which way they had came in at, getting turned around at more dead ends; at one point Puggsy almost fell into a pit, had the others not caught him in time. Thankfully the pit served as a memory-jog, and the teens made their way down the tunnel that would lead them outside…

…That is, until the tunnel caved in around them. At this point, the rising water from the tomb had flooded the tunnels clear up to their knees! Puggsy turned to Fangface. “Do something, Fangface! Otherwise we’re going to be entombed with the other dead guys!” he cried.

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking--- I’ve got it!” Fangface exclaimed, then grabbed the pickaxe and--- with amazing speed and strength, carved a new tunnel! The teens quickly followed the werewolf as he carved away.

…

Outside at the top of the mountain, Fangface popped his head out, looking around. “Whoops! *grr* Must’ve taken a wrong turn,” he said to himself, going back in.

…

On the other side of the mountain, on the side of a cliff, he popped out again. He watched as an eagle flew by. The werewolf looked at a map. “*grr* I knew I should’ve asked for directions,” he muttered.

…

Digging again… he popped his head out of the floor of the Emperor’s palace! The Emperor looked at him, confused. “Yikes! I was WAY off!” the werewolf gasped, before quickly ducking back down… reaching up and covering the hole with a potted plant.

“Stop goofing around, nitwolf!” Puggsy snapped as the werewolf came back inside the tunnel, which at this point was beginning to flood up to their necks! “Get. Us. OUT!”

“I’m. On. IT!” Fangface retorted sharply, swinging the pickaxe with such force against another wall, which crumbled on impact, leading them to the tunnel they had come in at!

The water in the caves gushed out of the opening, the teens ending up body-surfing their way out. Coughing out the water and getting back on their feet, they looked back at the caves, the tunnels now sealed off. “Well… *cough* so much for gathering more proof for Miss Liana,” Biff sighed.

“At least everything else is okay,” Kim said, thankful that her pack was water-proof, the artifacts inside unharmed.

Fangface shook himself dry (re-drenching Puggsy in the meantime). “Ooh, ooh, I’m glad we got out of there! *grr* And right before sundown!” he stated, looking out at the horizon where the sun was setting. “Sun…?”

“Here we go,” Puggsy remarked, watching as the werewolf--- upon seeing the sun--- transformed back into Fangs. “Welcome back,”

“Thanks… um, where was I?” Fangs asked, looking around. “And how’d we get out of those caves??”

“Luck. Dumb luck.”

Kim looked down the road. “Here comes Professor Yang,” she announced.

“Great timing--- I’m ready to head back to the hotel,” Biff said, stretching. “This has been one heck of a day,”

“I’ll say. I’m just glad the worst of it is over,” Puggsy agreed.

“I hope,” Fangs whimpered. Puggsy swatted him with his hat in retort.


	3. Who's Responsible?

Liana pulled up five minutes later, gasping when she saw the gang of teens in a drenched and exhausted state; her eye widened when she saw the entrance had caved in. “My goodness! What happened?!” she cried.

“We found the tomb… but a trap went off,” Biff confessed. “Sorry, Professor.”

“We got the helmet and headband, though!” Kim assured her, taking the artifacts out of the bag.

Liana beamed. “Wonderful! Oh, look at them…” she said, observing the headband. “Just like history described--- amazing!”

“I also found a scroll. It was incredible! It---“ Kim reached into her pack, but the scroll was gone. “It… it was right here… Oh no--- it must have fallen out back in the caves---!”

“A scroll, you said?”

“Yes--- it was about the Yokai Warrior. The text was glowing when I looked at it!”

“Hmm… It must have been a trick of the caverns. The yokai must have been pulling a mystical trick on you,”

“Precisely why I didn’t want to go in!” Fangs huffed. Puggsy elbowed him.

“It couldn’t have been a trick…” Kim said, looking in her pack.

Liana patted her on the shoulder. “Well, I appreciate your effort in trying to bring back something more--- but what matters is that you’re all safe.” She put the artifacts in a box in her SUV, then took out her wallet, handing Biff a thick wad of cash. “Here--- for the trouble. Now lets get back to civilization--- you all look like you could use some rest and relaxation!”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Puggsy muttered, rubbing his aching back as the teens climbed into the SUV, driving back to the city.

~W~

Once they were back at the hotel, everyone returned to their rooms to shower and change into their casual clothing. Fangs shared a room with Puggsy, and was lounging on the bed while his friend was in the tub rinsing off the smell of cave-dirt-and-trap-water.

Fangs was on his phone, checking his messages, finding a text sent earlier that day. “Hey, my aunt and uncle are in the city!” he exclaimed to himself, then dialed the number. “I wonder if they have Baby Fangs with them,”

After three rings, his uncle answered. “Sherman! I was wondering when you would reply! How’s the trip going for you and your friends?” his uncle asked.

“It started out great! We arrived at the airport and took a monorail clear across the city, then we went to one of those Cat Cafes--- you know, where they keep stray cats and let you pet them or adopt them? Then we went to this manga shop and I got some more _One Piece_ novels, and then we hit this candy shop and… well, I spent all my money there. Then we went out to eat at this restaurant--- and that’s where we ran into Professor Liana Yang, who heard about us and wanted our help in exploring this creepy cave and… well, then things got scary. We had to find this tomb and get something out of it and then a trap went off and… um… I guess I blacked out, because suddenly I woke up and found myself outside the cave with the others, and we were completely drenched--- then we came back and I showered and called you.”

There was a pause on the other end, as Fangs’ uncle was trying to comprehend all that his nephew said--- in just one breath. “Um, wow, Sherman… I hope our trip goes a lot smoother!”

“By the way, is Baby Fangs with you?”

“Of course! …We tried to see if your Uncle Arnie would watch him, but he’s busy at the arcade.”

“Huh? Why didn’t you ask me? …You guys always ask me to babysit--- especially when we’re travelling together! I watch him, and we make a meeting-point and I drop him off with you guys---“

“Not this time, Sherman. I’m sorry, it’s just with the last few times… Well, your aunt and I have decided it would be easier to just either leave him at home with a relative, or just bring him with us. It’s not that we don’t trust you… it’s just you and your friends end up in dangerous situations way too often, and it would be way too much to have an infant with you.”

“But… everything’s okay! Baby Fangs can hang out with us! We’re not going to be doing anything too exciting for the rest of our trip, and I’ll take good care of him!”

“We can meet you guys somewhere, but he’ll be staying with us for the trip. No offense, Sherman, but we don’t think you’re responsible enough to watch him, given the times you took him with you on dangerous adventures,”

Fangs gaped. “It’s not my fault--- dangerous things just keep happening to us!”

“I know… That’s why he won’t be going with you anywhere--- that is, not until you manage to stay out of trouble,”

“Why are you pinning it all on me? I’m responsible!”

“I’m sure you are--- and you can take care of him outside of travelling. ...We can discuss it later, alright? We’re turning in, now.”

“But---“ Fangs tried to say, but his uncle bid him goodnight and hung up. “Oh, c’mon! It’s not like I purposely put my cousin through child endangerment! Child endangerment purposely falls on us! Ooh, just wait until breakfast tomorrow--- HE can leave the tip! …especially since I spent my last yen on Butter Flavored Kit-Kats…”

By this time, Puggsy was walking out of the bathroom, towel-drying his hair. “What are you going on about now?” he asked.

“It’s my uncle! He’s driving me insane!”

“Which uncle? You have at least three--- wait, is it the one with the gambling problem who keeps asking you to wire money to his account?”

“No--- he stopped calling after I closed my bank account. It’s Baby Fangs’ dad. You know how he and my Aunt Linda won the lottery and decided to take trips to different countries like they dreamed of doing when they first got married until my aunt got pregnant, and then a year later decided to schedule their trips alongside our trips so I could spend time with Baby Fangs and they could go on tours together? Well, it turns out--- THEY DECIDED TO FIRE ME AS THEIR TRAVELLING BABYSITTER!”

Puggsy blinked. “Okay, first--- take a breath after every sentence. Second… what?”

Fangs sighed. “I asked my uncle if he was going to let me watch Baby Fangs while he and my aunt are in Tokyo--- but since danger follows us everywhere we go, they don’t believe I’m responsible enough to watch him! Can you believe that?!”

The shorter teen shrugged. “In a way, yeah. No offense, Fangs, but you’re not exactly the best nanny,”

Fangs gawked. “How can you say that?! Give me ONE example!”

Puggsy pretended to think. “Let’s see, you always ask HIM to save your neck when danger is abroad, you cry more than he does, you often leave him with us while running away in fear…”

_~59 Examples Later~_

“…Then there was that time when we went to see ‘Friday the 13th VII’ and you told Baby Fangs to let you know when it was safe to look. Oh, and he doesn’t wet the bed anymore.” Puggsy finished.

Fangs was sitting there in bitter annoyance. “I said ONE example!” he groused. “…and I haven’t wet the bed since last year, thank you very much…”

“Look, all I’m saying is, you can’t exactly credit yourself as Baby Fangs’ ‘best babysitter’ when you’ve spent most of the time trembling like a Chihuahua! …Heck, the first time you asked me to take care of him, because you were about to vomit from nerves!”

The lanky teen crossed his arms. “I had the flu! And if I wasn’t so desperate, I wouldn’t have left him with ya!”

“What’re you talking about? Your cousin warmed up to me fast!” Puggsy slightly grimaced. “…after he laughed when he spit-up on my lap.”

“He only likes you because you’re my best friend! Little kids always think the friends of their closest relatives are cool, because they’re not family! It’s the reason why I thought my Aunt Charlotte’s third boyfriend was awesome… until he asked me for my lunch money to pay for his Poker Game losses.”

“At least I know how to take care of him!”

“Oh yeah? If you’re so good with kids, why do you act like a bad influence?!”

It was Puggsy’s turn to gawk this time. “Excusify me?!” he approached Fangs. “I’M a bad influence?! Who took the baby to a slasher-film?!”

“Who taught the baby to point and laugh when someone hides under the seat?!”

“Who told him it’s okay to hit your best-friend with a bat?!”

“You snuck into my room in the middle of the night!”

“You kept texting me to come check your closet for monsters!”

“You were growling!”

“That was my stomach! I was hungrified because YOU ate the last slice of pizza I was saving in the fridge!”

Fangs opened his mouth to respond, then paused. “…alright, you got me there… But at least I don’t act like a jerk around infants!”

“Better than acting like a wimp! At least under my influence, the kid wouldn’t grow up sleeping with a safety-blanket through his college years!”

“You know I matured to a teddy-bear after senior year in high school--- and if he turned out like you, he’d be getting his butt kicked for the nasty things he said!”

“That’s only if he turned out like _you_ , Senor Sissy-Slapper.”

Fangs stood up tall. “Oh that does it! It’s GO time!”

Puggsy only glared at him intensely. “…Is it?”

Fangs paled, sitting back down. “…never mind, my watch stopped.”

There came a knock on the door; the gang had adjoining rooms, so it was easy for Biff to walk in. “Hey, what’s going on?” he asked. “You guys fighting again?”

“Just a frank exchange of ideas--- did we wake you guys or something?” Puggsy replied, calming down a little. Fangs did the same.

“No--- Kim found something. You guys have to see this!”

The two friends exchanged looks, then followed Biff into his and Kim’s room. The second-in-command was sitting on her bed with her pack…

And in her hands was the scroll.


	4. The Plot of Yin and Yang

_*Elsewhere…*_

“Is the building clear?” A man wearing a robe, headband, and bearing a katana asked Liana as she met him in the hall.

“Yes, Yin darling, all the personnel left two hours ago,” she informed him.

“And the nightguard?”

Liana chuckled. “I slipped a handful of laxatives in his coffee. He’ll be in the stall for the next three hours, at the least. The entire building is locked--- save for that door in the gym. The lock is still broken on it, but no one ever comes in that way.”

“Even if they did, they would be silenced quickly,” The man, Yin, raised his katana. “It is quite foolish to sneak up on a Samurai… particularly one who was kicked out of his own clan.”

Liana patted him on the shoulder. “Soothe your anger, my love, for soon those who wronged you will suffer for their actions,”

Yin lowered his katana. “Yes… Do you have what is required?”

Liana put on rubber gloves, retrieving the helmet and headband that once belonged to Lupe and Rogue. “As you can see, my instincts about those kids were correct--- they risked getting crushed under boulders and drowned just to get two simple things!”

“And it is the ‘simple things’ that will make my revenge satisfying. To the machine!”

The twosome walked through a door labeled ‘Science Lab--- Under Renovation’, a ruse no doubt to keep others from entering.

Little did they know the sign would go unheeded that night.

~W~

“Where did you find the scroll?” Puggsy asked Kim, as the gang of teenagers stood around a desk, analyzing it. “I thought you lost it in the caves!”

“I thought so too--- but while I was unpacking, I found it at the bottom of my bag!” Kim replied, ecstatic. The words glowed before the gang, stunning them. “It’s glowing again…”

“What’s it say, Kimmy? What’s it say? Huh? Huh?” Fangs asked, looking over her shoulder at the lines of ancient Japanese text.

Kim squinted, trying to read the words though the glow made it difficult. “’Only those who fight with their hearts may inherit the power of the Yokai Warrior; Those who act on cruel and selfish intentions shall never know such power, but have it hidden from their eyesight so long as their hearts linger in darkness; He who inherits this power use it with a pure soul’…” She stretched it out more. “And it shows all the techniques he used--- they look amazing!”

“C’mon, let’s take it to Professor Yang!” Biff exclaimed. He took out his cell phone and called the professor’s number, but it went straight to voicemail. “She must be busy…”

Kim shrugged. “She said she was going back to the university--- we can see if she’s still there,”

The teens headed out in that split second, the scroll in Kim’s bag. Within the hour, they found the university Liana Yang did her presentation at.

Unfortunately…

“The building is closed…” Kim moaned in disappointment. It was past dark and the building looked completely abandoned, almost all the windows black with darkness.

“Someone might still be in there,” Biff said, driving around the building. “Maybe they’ll know how we can reach her,”

“Can’t we wait until morning?” Fangs asked, looking at the blacked-out building. “I mean, if the building is closed and the lights are all off, that means no one is there. Plus, Professor Yang is probably busy so we shouldn’t disturb her, considering her phone is off… Let’s go get some ramen instead!”

“Hold it…what’s that light over there?” Puggsy spoke up, pointing over at a covered window, where flickering lights could be seen through the cracks of the blinds.

“Someone’s in there alright. C’mon, let’s go check,” Biff said.

“Are you sure? M-Maybe a lightbulb is just going out or something,” Fangs stammered.

“There’s no harm in just looking.” Kim said, as Biff parked the car.

Fangs groaned as his friends got out of the car, walking to the front door. Biff tugged and pushed on the door, but it was locked. “Can we just go to the hotel? I mean, we’re having breakfast with my uncle tomorrow---“

“Quiet down, meathead. We’re just dropping off a scroll,” Puggsy sneered.

“Let’s try another door,” Biff said, moving to another side of the building.

“What if they’re all locked? We might as well just go.” Fangs suggested/begged.

“If someone’s in there, a door has to be unlocked somewhere,” Kim replied.

Fangs sighed. “You know, suddenly I’m thinking most of the things we do are illegal!”

“Get moving!” Puggsy sneered, pushing him ahead.

The teens walked around the building, until they found an open door leading into the gym; they walked through the halls, their footprints echoing. “Weird… Shouldn’t there be a night-guard?” Kim whispered, noticing just how empty the building seemed.

“Maybe he’s in the lit room,” Biff guessed; they turned down a hall, seeing the door to the science lab, lights shining on the other side. “There it is,”

Kim walked up to the door first, seeing it was open a crack; she began to push it open, but paused and gasped. “Whoa… what is that thing?” she whispered to herself. The guys walked over and peered in with her.

It turns out the flickering lights were coming from a large supercomputer; attached to the side of it was a large cylinder containment unit filled with some sort of green liquid, with something small floating inside. Standing by the machine was Professor Yang and another man… dressed as a samurai.

“There’s the professor… but who’s that with her?” Biff wondered quietly.

“I got a feeling she’s more than an archieologist,” Puggsy muttered in suspicion.

Moving quietly and ducking down, the teens snuck into the lab, hiding behind a large examining table where they overheard the following conversation. “Just a few more minutes, and he will be ready,” Liana was saying. “He is still in the child state of his form… What age were the warriors when their skills reached their peak?”

“Prince Rogue was 21 and Master Lupe was 25, but have him be at 19 so that he may be more energized and athletic. The younger he is, the more he can learn in his prime--- and the easier he will be to control,” the samurai replied, looking at the containment unit. “Once he is ready, I will unleash him upon my old clan, and they will rue the day they cast me out! Samurais of supreme skills should rule this country--- with our power, we could conquer any continent, take out armies of all kinds with our stealth and technique! …But they did not believe in dominance, believing there was more to life than power.”

“Well, tonight we shall prove them wrong. By the next season, YOU will be the new samurai master, with a warrior to train your followers to do your bidding,” Liana stated with a smile. “We shall start our own Dynasty, and no other country will dare threaten us!”

“Bring forth the helmet and headband,” The samurai said; Liana did so and he examined them with gloves and a pair of tweezers, looking closely. “There should still be traces of DNA left… aha!” Using the tweezers, he plucked a strand of hair from the inside of the helmet and the headband. He took the strands over to the machine, inserting them into a slot where their genetic codes were downloaded.

“It will take ten minutes, then we’ll be ready to put our warrior into action,” Liana stated, walking over to a map pinned on the wall. “Where should we send him first? I was thinking after the yakuzka…”

“Great, we ended up helping out a pair of psychos,” Puggsy sneered.

“We’ve got to do something,” Biff whispered to the others. He looked over, seeing the two criminals had their backs to them, talking about different ‘test targets’ to send their warrior after; the machine was unguarded. “Kim and I will try to shut down that machine. Pugs, Fangs, you two grab the helmet and headband--- if they don’t have any DNA, they can’t make any more warriors,”

“Right,” Puggsy nudged Fangs and they snuck over to the table where the helmet and headband sat.

Biff and Kim snuck over to the machine, looking at all the switches and dials. “I can’t find an off-switch. Try unplugging it,” Biff whispered to her.

Kim looked behind the machine, reaching. “The outlet is too far,” she grunted, standing back up.

Biff looked around, finding a dial on the machine, set at 19, with a screen showing the progress. He turned the dial down as far as it could go. “If I turn it to 0, maybe it’ll stop.” He stated, having it turned to 15, then 14, 13…

Fangs and Puggsy in the meantime reached the table, Fangs being kept on lookout. “Okay, I’ve got the stuff--- let’s get it out of here,” Puggsy whispered.

“Hold it--- what if we cleaned them off first?” Fangs suggested. “If there’s nothing on the helmet or headband, they’d be useless!”

Puggsy considered this. “That’s probably the only good idea you’ve had since birth,” he grabbed a cloth, wiping off the helmet. “Hurry up, before they notice us,”

Fangs picked up the headband, pausing when he looked at the white circle on it. “Huh. You know, Lupe’s headband looks like…” his eyes widened.

The dial was turned at 11… 10…

Puggsy flinched. “…The moon!” he gasped, trying to take the headband, but it was too late.

Fangs spun around the room, knocking over chemistry tables, papers, desks, chairs and making a horrible racket! Mixed chemicals fizzed on the floor, reaching close to some Bunsen burners that were still plugged in… and accidentally switched on!

“What is going on?!” Liana cried as she and the samurai turned around---

“ARRROOOOOOOOOOO!”

Just in time to see a werewolf appear before their very eyes!

Biff and Kim turned around, the dial no longer being turned. “Fangface!” Kim cried.

“Yin! Stop them!” Liana ordered.

Without hesitation, Yin lunged at Fangface. “Whoa!” Fangface cried, dodging. “Geez! You wake up and suddenly a man’s trying to stab ya!”

“Hold on buddy!” Puggsy called, grabbing a chair and throwing it at Yin… who just sliced it in half with his katana, glaring at the teen. “…uh oh…”

Fangface attacked the samurai from behind--- but the villain dodged. “Fools! You cannot sneak up on a samurai!” Yin declared, then kicked Fangface in the gut, sending him flying back. Puggsy tried to tackle him, but he only flipped the short teen over his shoulder, smashing him on a desk!

Liana tried to stop Biff and Kim; the latter managed to grab the woman by the shoulders and swing her to the side, but was pulled down to the floor. “Break the machine, Biff! I’ll deal with Liana!” Kim called, after rolling and pinning Liana for a second.

Biff tried turning the dial, but it was stuck. “Why… won’t it… move?!” he grunted… then looked at the progress on the screen. “Oh no…!”

Fangface tried again to attack Yin, but the samurai had his sword ready. “I’m going to cut that fang of yours off!” he exclaimed.

*Chomp!*

The werewolf had opened his mouth, letting the sword pass by his mandibles… and then bit down on the blade, biting the tip off! He spat it out and grinned. “Didn’t your sensei tell you? ‘The fang is mightier than the sword’!” he boasted, then tackled the samurai while he was stunned.

Puggsy came too, just in time to not only see Fangface have the samurai pinned down, but also see Kim still in a fight with Liana. Thinking quick, he grabbed the helmet and headband. “Hey, Liana! You forgot something!” he shouted, throwing the two artifacts at the woman.

Liana caught them with ease. “Is that the best you’ve---?!” she began.

*WHACK!*

Kim smacked her hard in the face with her pack, knocking her over a table. She and Puggsy then raced over to Biff. “Any luck?” Kim asked.

“No--- it’s… it’s finished!” Biff cried.

As if on cue, a hissing sound came from the unit, steam billowing out the top as the doors opened, the green liquid flooding out. Lights flashed as the machine made a ‘ding-ding-ding’ noise.

Fangface made the mistake of looking at the lights, turning back into Fangs. “Huh? What’s---?!” the lanky teen stammered, only to get shoved into the wall by the samurai he had pinned down.

Yin raced over, shoving the other kids away, Liana at his side, as they watched their creation slip out of the machine… though their expectations were shot, and dismay fell on their faces.

“It’s… it’s just a boy!” Liana cried.

“N-No matter! We can still train him! He as the DNA of…” Yin began to state… until he got a good look at the small boy.

The boy was very thin with pale skin, one blue eye and one brown eye, and black hair. He shivered, covering himself. “Hey… does anyone have a b-blanket?” he asked… having a thick Brooklyn accent.

“What the…!? How can this be?!” Liana said, looking at some picture of Lupe and Rogue. “He looks nothing like them!”

Yin took the helmet and headband, looking at the strands of hair… seeing one short black one and one curly light-brown one. He then looked over at Fangs and Puggsy, glaring. “You…! What did you do?!” he snarled.

“Hey, don’t look at us! It was an accident!” Fangs stammered, ducking behind Puggsy for protection.

“No matter! We can make a new one! …Right after we dispose of thee teens--- and the reject,” Liana sniffed.

The boy looked around. “Who’ the reject?” he asked Kim in a whisper.

“You’re not making anything!” Biff shouted, taking a chair and smashing the machine!

“No! You little snot!” Liana screamed, lunging at him, but Kim once again got in her way and tackled her, knocking her into a wall and she went unconscious.

Yin went after Fangs and Puggsy with (what was left of) his sword… but the boy stuck out his leg and tripped him! The villain slid across the floor toward a chemical puddle, his face hitting the sizzling liquids and getting burned. “Agh!” he cried, standing up and holding his face in agony.

As this happened, Puggsy noticed the Bunsen burners starting to spark in their outlets. “Guys! We’ve got to get out of here!” he cried, as immediately a fire ignited!

“Run!” Biff cried, helping Kim drag Liana out.

Yin, on the other hand, smashed open the window. “This is not over, meddlers!” he shouted, then fled into the night.

Fangs and Puggsy helped the boy to his feet, carrying him out.

By this point, the night-guard was exiting the bathroom, watching as the kids ran by. “Hey! Do you kids have a pass?!” he shouted.

“There’s a fire in the chemistry lab!” Biff called back to him. “Get out, quick!”

The guard looked back… watching as a small explosion blew off the door of the chemistry lab. “Geez! You go to the bathroom for a few minutes…!”

~W~

Everyone ran out of the building, fire alarms going off. Within moments the fire department and a few police cars pulled up. The teens gave the authorities the whole story and everything they heard.

“So you say Professor Yang was working with a samurai named Yin to create some sort of super-warrior?” One officer questioned. “And they had a huge machine in the chemistry lab?! I don’t believe it!”

“Check the lab once the fire is out--- I’m pretty sure the machine is still there. Burned, but still there,” Puggsy stated.

“Sorry kids, but we need a bit more proof,”

“Um… does he count?” Fangs asked, pointing over to the boy who was sitting by the ambulance, covered by a blanket. “He came out of the machine,”

The officer walked over to the boy. “Son, did you come from a machine?”

“Yes… That’s what the mean lady and the guy wearing a funny outfit said,” he replied, then pointed at Liana. “She wanted to ‘dispose’ us,”

The police turned to Liana. “Ma’am, we’re going to have to take you in for questioning,” another officer said.

“No… they’re lying! There’s no machine! We didn’t use DNA of Lupe and Rogue--- they’re just legends!” Liana said with a nervous chuckle.

“…We didn’t say WHOSE DNA you used,” Puggsy said with a victorious smirk.

“Come with us,” the officer said, shoving Liana into the car.

“No! Wait! …YIN!” Liana screamed, fighting to get away, but it was no use.

“We’ll keep an eye out for her accomplice as well. …You kids better return to the US, just to be safe.” The officer said to Biff, before driving off.

Fangs was texting at this point. “Better tell my uncle our breakfast plans are off… and we’ve got a mad samurai after us,” he sighed. “…and I really wanted to get some snapshots of Mt. Fuji…”

“Uh, just one problem, guys.” Kim stated. “…What are we going to do with the kid?”

They looked over at the boy, who gave them an innocent wave.


	5. Dustin Tyler

The first thing the gang decided to do was take the machine-born boy to the hospital for a proper examination. It was mainly the paramedics at the site who suggested so, as the doctors would be curious to examine such a sci-fi spectacle.

“So, what do you think, Doctor… Huu. Is he alright?” Biff asked after three hours, reading the doctor’s nametag as they stood in a hospital room; the boy was sitting on a bed wearing a hospital gown, looking around at the room--- often Puggsy had to keep him from messing with the medical equipment.

“I see no problems with him,” Doctor Huu answered, looking over a chart. “His X-rays came back positive, all his organs are functioning naturally… Despite coming out of a machine, he has the genetic build of a normal 9-year-old boy! …If only we knew how it happened; science like this would help benefit barren parents--- perhaps even create ideal parents for orphans. …But, considering fiendish folk used it in order to try and create a humanized WMD, I suppose humanity is not yet ready for such technology.” He looked back at the boy. “…The lad didn’t inherit such traits, did he?”

“No…” Kim said, looking back at her other two friends. “…From the way he looks, we think… there was a DNA mix-up. Instead of using genes from Lupe and Rogue, he… well…”

Puggsy rolled his eyes. “Just say it, Kim. Fangs and I--- involuntarily--- made a kid!” he sneered, then glared at Fangs. “…You just HAD to goof around with the headband, didn’t you?”

“Y-You’re the one who put on the helmet!” Fangs retorted.

“Yeah--- after you made it slam on my head!”

“BETTER than the genes of two evil tyrants though, RIGHT?!” Kim said sternly. The duo paused, meekly nodding.

“Well, at least we know the world won’t be in danger, then.” Doctor Huu said with an assuring grin. “However, there is the matter of his well-being. He was made with American genes, yet he was also ‘born’ in Japan. Are you going to leave him here to be adopted, or take him back to America?”

“We can’t leave him in Japan--- not with Yin loose!” Biff said. “Who knows what he’d do…”

“Then we’ll take him with us to America. We can find a good family to adopt him,” Kim suggested.

“Excellent! In the meantime, I suggest you all take care of him until then,” Doctor Huu said… then handed Biff a slip of paper. “Here’s the bill.”

Biff took one look at the bill… and nearly had a heart-attack. He turned to Kim, nervously. “Um… think you could spot this one?” he asked in a whisper.

Kim rolled her eyes, then walked over to the boy. “So… do you have a name we can call you by?” she asked.

The boy cocked his head. “You mean I didn’t come with one already?” he asked. He then picked up a stethoscope, putting it on and putting the mic-end against Fangs’ chest.

“Well… we figured you had one in mind.”

The boy shrugged. “Not really--- it’s hard to plan when the room you’re born in suddenly catches fire,” He looked at Fangs and Puggsy. “Why don’t you two pick a name for me?”

“Us? Why us?” Fangs asked; the boy listened to the steady pace of his heart with the stethoscope.

“Because you two are my dads,” He paused. “…Um, did your heart just stop?”

Fangs had a freaked out look on his face. Puggsy’s eye started twitching. “…your… dads?” the latter questioned.

“Well, yeah. I mean, I inherited your guys’ DNA, and Kim said I look just like you two… so you’re both my dads.”

*THUD!*

Fangs hit the floor, Puggsy quickly followed. Both had little ‘x’s in their eyes.

“Should we get a doctor?” The boy asked.

“Not at these prices,” Biff muttered, looking at the bill. Kim nudged him.

“I’ve got an idea,” Kim said, grabbing a pitcher of water and splashing it on the unconscious duo. “Snap out of it, guys! Just give him a name,”

“Are you crazified?! If we name him, that names him legally ours--- plus if we name him now we’re just going to get attached…” Puggsy began to argue.

“Dustin,” Fangs spoke up.

Puggsy looked at him. “What?!”

“I think his name should be Dustin,” Fangs looked at the boy. “How does that sound?”

“I like it,” The boy, now to be referred to as ‘Dustin’, said with a smile. He looked at Puggsy. “Unless you had another name?”

“Um… I…” Puggsy sputtered, though it was hard to snap at the kid. “Tyler. That can be your ‘middle’ name.”

“Dustin Tyler Fangsworth--- it works!” Fangs beamed.

Puggsy shot his best friend a glare. “He is NOT having your last name!”

“Oh yeah?! I didn’t hear you give him a surname!”

“He can have the last name of whoever adopts him,” Biff sighed, getting a headache from his friends’ constant banter. “Right now, we should hurry back to America… right after I break the bank over this bill…”

“C’mon, Dustin, I’ll take you clothes-shopping.” Kim offered, leading Dustin out.

Puggsy rubbed the side of his face. “So… how should we explain this to our parents?” Fangs asked.

“I’ll tell you after my mental breakdown…” Puggsy groaned.

~W~

Later that night, the gang went to the airport, boarding their personal plane; Biff had a pilot’s license and always flew the gang overseas on their global trips. Dustin, now clad in a purple shirt with a 9 on the front, jeans, sneakers, and a black cap with a gray bill and orange-red underside looked at the air vessel.

“Whoa! Planes look a lot smaller in the sky…” Dustin said.

“That’s because they fly high up--- thousands of feet high,” Kim told him.

“Cool… How do we get on?”

Biff pointed over to a stair-ladder next to the plane. “We just climb up and get inside.” He explained.

“What will we do with the stairs?”

“The airline personnel will move them before our takeoff.”

“You mean we’re flying the plane ourselves?? Ooh, can I steer??”

Biff chuckled. “No, no--- only I fly the plane. You and the others just get to sit back and enjoy the ride.”

“Awww…”

“Kid sure is a motormouth, isn’t he?” Puggsy commented.

“You should have seen him in the store.” Kim giggled. “He kept trying on clothes of all sizes, then tried to drag me into a toy store, and after that a pet store… He just wanted to explore the entire mall!”

“Wait until he’s a teenager, then he’ll loathe shopping,”

Once on the plane, Dustin was up and down the aisles. “Should I sit in the front, middle, or back--- and can I have a window seat? Is anyone else going to fly with us? Hey, where’s America?” he was asking.

“Uh, the front is good, yes, no, and far away.” Fangs answered, though it seemed even he had trouble keeping up with Dustin’s questions.

Dustin sat down beside him, buckling up and watching as the plane began to move down the runway, eventually lifting off into the air; he gripped Fangs by the arm. “W-Whoa…! I think my ears just popped--- is that normal?” he stammered.

“Yeah, kid, it’s fine. They just pop due to the air pressurization around the plane,” Puggsy said.

“What does that mean?”

“It means the higher you are up in the air, the thinner the air is. Once you’re in space, there is no air.”

“What’s space?”

“It’s… where the planet Earth hovers, along with other planets, stars, and other stuff.”

“If there’s no air, how does the earth hover?”

Puggsy sighed. “There’s no gravity--- that is no planetary pull that keeps us rooted to the ground. Everything floats in space.”

“Are we going into space??”

“No--- I just told you, there’s no air, and the plane isn’t built like a rocket.”

“What’s a rocket?”

“A vessel that can be launched into space--- are you done with your questions?”

Dustin scoffed. “Give me a break! I was just born today!” He looked out the window at the clouds and stars. “How far away is America?”

“At least 8 hours--- unless Biff decides to take the long way.” Puggsy rubbed his temples, hoping to God that Biff was taking a short route.

“What is it like?”

“It’s a nice country… just wait until we land, you’ll see for yourself,”

“Wow, check out the ocean! It goes on for miles! …Hey, Dad, how big is the ocean? Can we go sailing sometime?”

“I’m hitting the lavatory,” Puggsy got up, tapping Fangs on the shoulder. “Your turn.”

Fangs looked at Puggsy, then back at Dustin. “Um… the ocean goes on for miles… and I guess?” he answered.

“Awesome!” Dustin exclaimed, looking out the window. “…Hey, can I open the window?”

“No--- I think if you did, everything in the plane would get sucked out. Pressure, and all that…”

“Can I go up front?”

“Okay--- but don’t mess with anything. Biff hates it when you do that (believe me),”

Dustin nodded then got up, heading to the cockpit where Biff and Kim sat. “Hey, Dustin, what do you need?” the leader asked.

“I just wanted to see how you fly a plane. Is it hard?” Dustin asked.

“Kind of. You have to go into training and earn a pilot’s license,” Biff replied. “But once you get the hang of it, it’s no problem.”

“Can I learn to fly when we get home?”

“Not yet--- you have to wait until you’re old enough,”

“How old?”

“18 at the least,”

“Are you 18?”

“19 as of September,”

Dustin cocked his head. “What does that mean?”

“He was born in September--- we all were,” Kim told Dustin. “It’s a good thing, since it helps us remember each other’s birthday.”

“Birthdays are when you were born, right?”

“Right.”

“So… is today MY birthday?”

Kim and Biff looked at each other. “I suppose it is. We could throw you a party when we get home,”

Dustin’s eyes lit up. “With a cake and everything??”

Kim nodded. “With a cake and everything.”

“Oh boy!” Dustin then ran out down the aisle. “HEY DADS! AUNT KIM SAID WE CAN HAVE A PARTY WHEN WE GET HOME, CAKE AND EVERYTHING…!”

Kim giggled, looking at Biff. “Aunt Kim?”

“I guess that would make me Uncle Biff.” Biff chuckled.

The two of them listened, as Dustin talked about what kinds of cake he’d like at his birthday party, unable to decide. Even clear up front, they could hear Puggsy groaning with a migraine.

~W~

After three hours of [nonstop] talking, Dustin finally fell asleep. “Finally…” Puggsy sighed quietly, leaning back in his chair.

“I feel awful…” Fangs whispered, looking at Dustin; said boy was curled up in his seat with a pillow and blanket, quietly snoring.

“Don’t worry. Once the kid is adoptified, it’ll be a thing of the past,” Puggsy assured him, pulling his hat over his eyes to help himself sleep.

“No. I mean… We didn’t even get him a birthday present,”

Puggsy gave him a look out the corner of his eye. “We’ll find him something when we get home. Until then, lets sleep before the kid bombards us with more questions,”

Fangs nodded, leaning back in his seat. He took one more look at Dustin, before closing his eyes and falling asleep as well.


	6. It's Only Temporary (Right?)

Hours later, the plane touched down in the Brooklyn airport. It was roughly 6 AM when they arrived; Dustin was still fast asleep, perhaps from the jetlag. “Aww,” Fangs whispered, picking him up and carrying him out to the Wolf Buggy. “He’s really cute when he sleeps.”

“He’s really quiet when he sleeps, you mean.” Puggsy commented. “What are we going to do with him?”

“We can take him to Social Services later, they won’t be open for another couple hours.” Kim stated, looking at her watch. She then stretched. “Until then, lets go home and rest. This has been a crazy trip!”

“That, I can agree with.” Fangs stated, rubbing Dustin’s head.

Biff drove for twenty minutes until they reached their complex. The gang shared a 3-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor. The two leaders shared one bedroom as it was large enough for two beds; across the living room was a small hall that led to two smaller bedrooms where Fangs and Puggsy slept, the bathroom at the end of the hall; north to the living room was the kitchen, which also had a screen door that led to a balcony.

Biff was the first to rent the apartment, with Kim as a room-mate; Fangs and Puggsy, who were having trouble finding/keeping their own apartments, were welcomed to move in next--- namely so everyone could help with the rent and groceries. It was worth it, as coming home to a large apartment after a long trip helped them unwind.

By the time they entered the apartment, Dustin woke up. “Hm? Where are we?” he asked groggily as Fangs set him down.

“This is our apartment. I’ll show you around,” Fangs said, leading Dustin around. “This is the living room, over there is the kitchen, down this way is the bathroom…”

Puggsy sighed, plopping down on the couch. Biff sat down next to him. “Looks like Fangs is pretty fond of Dustin. I’ve never seen him so enthusiastic,” the leader said, watching as Fangs tugged Dustin all over the apartment.

“Yeah… and that’s what worries me,” Puggsy said quietly. “You know how attached he can get to things. Heck, he was freaking out because his aunt and uncle wouldn’t let him babysit his cousin anymore!”

Biff shrugged. “Well, he and Baby Fangs had a tight bond. …But Dustin is a different case, he knows that.”

“…And over there is my room--- next to it is Puggsy’s. Ooh, and downstairs there’s a pool in the back! You can see it off the balcony--- I once tried diving into it from the ledge until my fear of heights kicked in…” Fangs was rambling on to Dustin.

“…Does he, Biff? DOES he?” Puggsy questioned with an arched eyebrow.

“This is so cool!” Dustin exclaimed, looking around at the apartment. “…So, where do I sleep?”

The gang exchanged looks. “Um, Dustin…” Kim spoke up, having Dustin sit down next to her at the kitchen table. “We need to talk. You see… We’re going to find some parents to take care of you,”

“What’re you talking about?” Dustin thumbed at Fangs and Puggsy. “I already have parents!”

“…oh dear Lord…” Puggsy mumbled, face-palming.

Kim shook her head. “I mean real parents, like a mom and dad.”

Dustin gave her a sad look. “…Why can’t I stay here?” he looked over at Fangs and Puggsy. “Don’t you guys like me?”

“Um… uh… of course we do. We’re just, um, not parential material. You need parents who are more qualified,” Puggsy said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“What Pugs means is, having a kid is a really big responsibility. We all have jobs we have to go to, and we can’t leave you here by yourself while we work; plus there’s the matter of school, clothes, food… It’s a lot for a teenager to handle,”

“Yeah, yeah, Biff is right. I remember back in high school, my science-partner Marcy Grey had this fling with the football captain Richard Thomson---“ Fangs began to say, until Puggsy nudged him to shut up.

“But… I’ll still get to see you guys, right?” Dustin asked. “I mean, I’ve barely known you guys a day, sure, but I still want to hang out with you.”

“Oh, of course!” Kim assured him. “You can come and visit us anytime you want.”

“What if my parents live far away?”

“You can call us, email us, maybe even Skype us.” Puggsy stated.

Dustin blinked. “…How do I do that?”

“With an iPhone. Here, I’ll show ya!” Fangs said, taking out his cell phone… seeing he had a missed call from his uncle. “Oh… hang on, I gotta make a call real quick.” He walked out of the room.

Biff patted Dustin on the shoulder. “Point is, we’ll keep in touch. Right now, we have a couple hours to kill before we take you to Social Services,” he said.

Dustin’s eyes widened in horror. “We’re going to KILL someone?! Why?!”

“Not literately! It’s just an expression!” Puggsy said, rubbing his temples. “It means we have some spare time to ourselves… and I’m going to spend it taking a nap.” With that, he walked out of the room.

“I’m going to go take a shower,” Kim sighed, walking to the bathroom.

Dustin looked at Biff. “…Want to watch TV?” the leader offered.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Fangs’ uncle had called him up, asking if their breakfast-plans were still on; the lanky teen informed them that the gang ended up in a mishap at a lab and had to return to America early. “We had to bring this kid back with us. His name is Dustin,”

“A kid? How’d you end up taking a kid back to America?” his uncle questioned.

Fangs rubbed the back of his neck, wondering how to explain it. “Well… at the lab, these scientists were trying to make a clone, and as a result ended up with a kid--- it’s really hard to believe, I know. I’m still trying to believe it myself!”

There was a pause before his uncle replied. “…Sherman if you and your friends didn’t have adventures involving giant cobras and alien space-ships, I’d think it crazy. To be honest, this sounds like the LEAST insane trip you guys ever had. But why cut the trip short?”

“Because one of the scientists… well he’s actually a samurai, and he’s out for vengeance because Dustin didn’t turn out how he wanted.” Fangs gasped, realization dawning upon him. “You guys better come back, too! H-He might come after you!”

“Does he KNOW we’re here?!”

“N-No… but just to be safe---!”

“Already ahead of you. *sigh* It’s fine, your aunt wanted to go to Paris instead anyway (that and the hotel prices are outrageous…) Thanks for the warning, Sherman--- though next time try to notify us sooner.”

“R-Right… Sorry, it’s just with Dustin…”

“Why did you end up with Dustin anyway? Shouldn’t he be with the police or at some lab?”

“Well… um… we kind of got custody because… he has my DNA. I-It ended up in the machine by accident!”

Another pause, longer than the last. “So… he’s your kid?”

“Um, only half. The other half is Puggsy’s.”

Yet another long pause. After a moment his uncle let out a long, heavy sigh. “(the things you get into…) Sherman, listen to me. First, I wouldn’t tell your parents about this--- your mother finds out you and your friend… ‘produced’ a kid, and she’ll have a heart-attack! In fact, don’t tell ANYONE about it,”

“Well, of course---“

“Second, get that kid… clone… Dustin to Social Services. Tell them he’s an orphan, don’t bring up how he came around--- and if they see any resemblance, or ask questions, or if the kid brings up anything, deny it.”

“Deny it…?”

“He’s not your son, Sherman. He’s just a science experiment. Right now you have a crazy samurai to worry about!” there was a voice in the background. “Your aunt is back. I’ll tell her about our change in plans and I’ll call you after we leave.”

With that, he hung up.

Fangs stood there, trying to comprehend what his uncle advised. He stepped out of his bedroom, walking down the hall and looking out at the living room; Dustin was sitting on the floor, flicking through the TV channels while Biff lied on the couch, watching him and chuckling.

_Deny it…?_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A couple hours went by fast, as the gang took Dustin to Social Services. They met with a woman with auburn hair looking to be in her 30’s. “Hello, I’m Miss Angeline. What can I help you with?”she asked.

“This is Dustin Tyler… um, he has no surname.” Kim stated, lying a hand on Dustin’s shoulder. “You see… he came from Japan, and has no mom or dad.”

“I have two d—mmf!” Dustin began to state, until Puggsy covered his mouth, shaking his head.

“He wasn’t kidnapped, was he?” Miss Angeline questioned in suspicion. “We do have records of several children we were left with due to such cases,”

“No. He has no records of any kind. He’s an orphan,” Biff stated. “We had to bring him back with us because these people, Professor Liana Yin and her partner, were using him as an experiment.”

“Ugh, I hate cases like those. You wouldn’t believe the calls we get about kids needing foster-care because …” she looked at Dustin, then cleared her throat. “Does he have any medical records at all?”

“Only our trip to the hospital back in Japan,” Kim said, handing her a file the doctors had given her to take home.

Angeline looked it over. “It says here he was born… yesterday?”

“Well, uh, that’s when we met him. He doesn’t have an official birth-date.” Biff said. “But he’s nine years old, if that helps.”

“What do you mean I don’t have an official birth-date? I was born yesterday--- I just came out of a machine!” Dustin said.

“Dustin, why don’t you go read some magazines while we talk?” Puggsy said, his face covered by his palms. Dustin shrugged and walked off; Puggsy turned to the agent. “…Sorry, the whole saturation kind of boggled his mind.”

“Understandable. A lot of kids who come here are often traumatized, often due to kidnappings or abusive parents.” Angeline said, looking over at Dustin, who was reading a sports magazine with fascination. “…Though, from the situation you’ve described, he seems quite happy. How long have you’ve had him?”

“Just a day.” Biff replied.

“Quite a brave child… However, it will take some time to line up a good pair of parents for him.” Angeline typed at her computer. “I could put him into foster care for a temporary time, until we can find a suitable family,”

“Wait… you mean just send him from one family to another?” Fangs questioned.

“Well, unless you know someone who can take care of him until a family is found,”

Fangs bit his lip, thinking for a moment. “What if… What if WE took care of him, then?”

“Excusify us!” Puggsy said quickly, yanking Fangs by the arm out of hearing-range. He then grabbed Fangs by the shirt-collar, pulling him to eye-level. “Fangs. Are. You. NUTS?! We can’t keep a kid!”

“Why not?” Fangs argued in a whisper. “They’re talking about sending him to a foster home before giving him a real home! If that’s the case, why not let him stay with us a little while?”

“Did you not hear our conversation earlier? We won’t be around to superiormise him--- that, and we can’t afford everything for him. Why do you think we stock up on Ramen Noodles every month?!”

Fangs crossed his arms. “It would be better than him feeling rejected. You’re just making excuses because you don’t want him around!”

Puggsy pointed defensively. “I never said that. I’m just saying it’s going to be a lot of work! We all have jobs!”

Fangs shifted. “…I don’t. I got fired last week.”

“What?! How?!”

“I don’t know--- I just woke up to a mess and the manager told me to hand in my name-tag and apron!”

Puggsy face-palmed, coming up with the reason in his head. “All the more reason we can’t keep him…”

“We can! I’ll stay at home with him while the rest of you guys work!”

“Fangs…”

“C’mon, Pugs! Just until he finds a good home. …I mean, it would be pretty heartless to just hand him over to someone else one day after he’s born, right? Is that how you’d want his first birthday to go?”

“(…sure, make me out to be an ass…) FINE, he can stay with us. But only until---“ Puggsy looked, seeing that Fangs was already over by Miss Angeline.

“We’ll keep him!” Fangs exclaimed.

Biff and Kim looked at Puggsy curiously. “What was that all about?” Biff asked.

“Let’s just say… Fangs really wants to become a mother,” Puggsy muttered, rubbing his face. 


	7. Sudden Attachment

An hour later, the gang went to the nearest Wal-Mart to do more shopping for Dustin; Kim kept up her promise of celebrating his birthday, starting by taking him to the store to buy a cake as well as a few more clothes. Biff and Fangs decided they would buy the nine-year-old some videogames, books, and movies to keep him entertained while the child lived with them. As for Puggsy… he was going to make sure the kid wouldn’t make them break the bank.

“Keep in mind, we’re not exactly living the high-life, so try not to get carried away with the gifts,” Puggsy was telling Dustin as they browsed through the aisles… as the kid was grabbing one toy after another to pile into the cart, the short teen stacking most of them back on the shelves. “And no throwing a fit neither--- if we say it’s too expensive, I don’t want to hear any complaining!”

“Geez, Pugs, why don’t you just make him get a job?” Fangs scoffed.

Puggsy gave him a glare. “I’m saving that line for YOU.”

“Can I get this? It’s not too much, is it?” Dustin asked… holding up a Pinkie Pie plushie marked for five dollars.

Puggsy’s eye twitched a bit. “…That’s a girl’s toy, Dustin.”

Dustin held up a Rainbow Dash plushie next. “How about this one?”

Puggsy grabbed his son by the shoulders, turning him to the other side of the aisle that was lined with Transformers, Avengers, and other boy toys. “Try THIS side. The one that’s NOT pink.” He sighed, turning to Kim. “You’d think this would come natural for all nine-year-old boys,”

“Well, keep in mind, he’s still new to the world.” Kim said, smiling as she watched Dustin look at the different toys. “I think he’ll learn with our help,”

“C’mon, Dustin, let’s check out the movies next!” Fangs exclaimed after he and Dustin piled several toys into the cart, pushing it down the lane.

“Wait up, Dad!” Dustin called, racing after him.

“HEY! WHOA! Put some of that back--- I already spent my entire paycheck at the hospital!” Biff yelped, doing a double-take at the stack of toys.

Kim shook her head. “I’m going to go buy him some more clothes,” she told Puggsy. “Want to help me pick some out?” Puggsy shrugged, following her.

In the movie aisle, Fangs was pointing out a few Disney movies, while Biff was showing him some superhero films, both of them seeing which would pique his interest. Dustin looked around at a few, before stopping at the anime section. “Can we get some of these? They look cool!” he asked, picking up _Cowboy Bebop._

“Ah--- maybe, but we have to check the ratings,” Biff said, putting the DVD back. “Not all movies are appropriate for kids. We’ll help you find some good ones,”

“Too violent… too scary… too confusing… too---- whoa mama!” Fangs was saying, browsing through the DVD’s before finding one with… quite a mature cover. He grabbed a _One Piece_ DVD to cover it up, blushing. “L-Let’s go back to the _Scooby-Doo_ section,”

“What about this one?” Dustin asked, picking a movie called _The Boy and the Beast._ He read the back of it. “It sounds good, and it’s rated PG-13… is that alright?”

Biff looked at the movie. “I guess we could give it a try--- I mean if it’s not any good, we can always return it,” he said.

“Alright… but if any nightmares occur, you’d better offer comfort!” Fangs scoffed.

“I’ll handle Dustin’s nightmares,” Biff promised.

“…I was talking about ME.”

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

In the clothing aisle, Puggsy was helping Kim look through the clothes, grabbing a few T-shirts, a couple sweaters, and a jacket. “You think we should get him some school clothes?” Kim asked. “Whoever adopts him will expect him to have something nice to wear when he’s enrolled.”

“School? Already? Heh, it was like yesterday he was just born,” Puggsy joked in sarcasm.

Kim gave him a look. “Puggsy…”

“Hey, I’m kidding. …I’m not so sure, Kim. I mean, Miss Angeline may have some parents lined up by tomorrow. Should we really be buying so much for Dustin?”

“Pugs, we don’t know _how_ long it will be. For all we know, Dustin might be with us for quite a few weeks--- we’ll have to be prepared.”

“Alright, alright… but if he’s going to go to school, we’ll have to give him some more insight on how the world works. I don’t want his parents snapping at us if he ends up having trouble in class,”

“Maybe we can home-school him, then.” Kim looked through some shoes, grabbing a pair of sandals. “My cousin in South America told me a lot of kids are taught at home before attending school. I can look for some textbooks while we’re here,”

“Good idea… so long as he didn’t inherit Fangs’ brain cells, God willing.”

Kim gave Puggsy a small smack on the shoulder. “Be nice. He’s your son too,”

A woman in the clothing department smiled. “Aww, how sweet! Two parents shopping for their child.” She said.

Kim blushed. “Oh! No, no, no--- we’re not married!”

“Ha, I won’t judge--- marriage barely happens these days. What matters is that you two love each other,”

“We’re not a couple at all--- she’s just helping me shop for… *mumble*my kid*mumble*” Puggsy told the woman, blushing a bit.

“Oh, are you a single father?”

“No, I---“

“There you guys are!” Fangs said, as he and Dustin came up. “We got enough for Dustin--- at least, that’s what Biff said… before crying at the ATM.”

“Dad helped me pick up some movies--- whoa, are all these clothes for me?” Dustin asked. He looked at Puggsy. “Thanks, Dad!”

“OH! My goodness, I’m so sorry--- I forgot how much time have changed!” The woman chuckled. “I’m sorry, I’ve never met a male couple before. Well, congrats to both of you!”

“Thanks! …Um, for what?” Fangs asked.

“…let’s just go check out…” Puggsy said, his face completely red.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

By the time the teens returned to their apartment and had cake, Dustin had already set up his own little area in the living room. Surrounded by his toys, he watched his movie, completely engrossed in the action-scenes (Fangs covered his eyes at these parts, but agreed the rest was enjoyable).

As the late afternoon crept in, Dustin had fallen asleep. “He sure sleeps a lot,” Kim noted.

“He’s probably worn out from being so wound up,” Biff chuckled.

“I wonder who he got THAT from,” Puggsy sarcastically commented, thumbing over at Fangs who sat across from Dustin on the couch.

The lanky teen had drifted off himself, snoring softly.

“I think they’ve got the right idea,” Biff said with a yawn. “I’m still jet-lagged from our trip back. I’m going to go lie down for a while, too.”

“I’m going to go lounge by the pool,” Puggsy replied, walking out.

Kim looked back in the kitchen, seeing the leftover dishes and half-eaten cake on the table. “Of course I’m left to clean up,” she sighed, then shrugged. “Oh well--- if I have to clean now, the guys will have to cook dinner later,”

Half an hour into her chore, Dustin came walking in. “Hey, Aunt Kim. What are you doing?” he asked, groggily.

“Just cleaning up around the kitchen--- did I wake you?” she replied.

“Nah--- Dad’s snoring did.” As if to emphasize this, a large snort came from Fangs in the living room. “Where is everyone?”

“Everyone decided to rest. Do you need anything?”

Dustin shrugged. “Not really,” he looked around the messy kitchen. “Is there anything I can do in here?”

Kim looked around. “Um… Well, I’m cleaning right now--- if you want, you can help out and sweep the floor,”

“Okay,” Dustin grabbed the broom, sweeping the dust and crumbs off the floor… out the balcony door… and over the balcony.

(“Hey! Watch it up there!” came Puggsy’s voice as the debris landed on his head.)

“Anything else?” the child asked Kim.

“It’s fine, Dustin. Just make sure your toys are picked up in the living room,” Kim replied, as she dried the dishes. Once she finished, she looked in the living room…

…Seeing that in the process of picking up his things, the kid ended up pausing to watch his movie again--- trying to copy a scene with the broom-stick, as the main-character was doing. He did a double-take, seeing Kim watching, and quickly began sweeping the toys into a corner.

Kim had to chuckle.

Not getting attached to this kid was going to be tough. 


	8. Biff, The Mentor

It had been two days since the gang brought Dustin home, and so far the child had yet to cause any problems--- except one lesson teaching him that it was a bad idea to put metal in a microwave (the latter having occurred when he tried to heat up a tinfoil-wrapped baked potato, causing a brief power-outage… and the need for a new microwave).

By the next morning, it was time for Biff, Kim, and Puggsy to head to their jobs. Fangs, being unemployed, was put in charge of keeping Dustin out of trouble.

It was inevitable Puggsy asked his question, “Are you sure you can handle the kid while we’re gone?”

“Of course! I’ve watched Baby Fangs on my own before.” Fangs replied with a smile and a shrug. “Only this time it’ll be easier, since Dustin is already potty-trained and knows how to talk.”

“I’m serious Fangs--- if I come home and find that we need to find a new apartment due to fire, flood, or restraining orders, it’ll be your neck!”

“Geez, calm down! I know how to take care of a kid, sheesh!”

“They’ll be fine, Pugs, don’t worry.” Kim assured the shorter teen. She turned to the lanky coward. “Why don’t you help Dustin out with those books I got him, Fangs? I helped him get started on grammar--- you can teach him math or science, that way he won’t fall behind in school.”

“Ooh, ooh, great idea Kimmy!”

“Fangs? A teacher?” Puggsy scoffed, and was ready to make another remark… but a cold glare from Kim made him keep his mouth shut. “Um… yeah, good luck, Fangs. The kid will probably bombard you with questions all day, so be ready.”

“I’ll be back at 4 o’clock,” Biff added. “If anything happens, you have us on speed-dial,”

“Right. See you guys later!” Fangs said, waving to them as they walked out of the complex.

“…You have the fire department on stand-by, right?” Puggsy asked Biff in a whisper.

“After what happened with the microwave? Yes.” Biff replied quietly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A few hours later, Biff came home from work. It had been a grueling day--- he worked at a temp agency part-time, sitting at a cubicle typing at the computer making calls. The latter was the worst part, as he had to call up clients who were overdue on their payments, most who would nag or complain that their check was ‘in the mail’ or claim he had the wrong number and such.

Thankfully 4 o’clock came around quick, and he found himself walking through the doorway, ready to rest and relax…

A long day of work made him forget they had a kid in their apartment. Dustin sat in the living room, surrounded by his toys and watching _Batman: The Brave and the Bold_ on television. “Hey, Dustin. Where’s Fangs?” Biff asked. “Weren’t you guys working on schoolwork?”

“We were… but Dad ended up falling asleep when we were reading about American history,” Dustin said, pointing in the kitchen.

Biff looked in, seeing that the tall, lanky teen was asleep at the table, using a book as a pillow. The leader shook his head, grinning; he recalled Fangs always fell asleep during History Class back in high school. Grabbing the books, he walked into the living room. “How many subjects did you guys cover before he dosed off?”

“He helped me with spelling and grammar, but that’s the most we got through.” Dustin rubbed his head. “There was a lot to cover--- I had to learn about phonics, antonyms, synonyms, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, punctuation… But once I managed to get reading down, I managed to catch up.”

Biff was surprised. “You didn’t know how to read?”

Dustin shrugged. “I learned a little when Aunt Kim taught me grammar, but I could only make out a few words.”

“Why don’t I help you out with the rest?” Biff sat the books down. “If you’d like.”

Dustin nodded, grinning. “Sure! …What should we do first?”

Biff looked over the progress Dustin made so far; he was doing good with English, so he figured math would be the next step.”Let’s try math. We’ll start with the basics,”

For the next couple of hours, Biff was teaching Dustin about addition, subtraction, and his times-tables, later moving on to fractions. At first he figured the boy would struggle, still being new to the world and such; to his surprise (and relief), the nine-year-old was a quick learner--- probably due to his thirst for knowledge, Biff figured. Not that he was a genius--- there were a couple math problems he got wrong, but didn’t feel bad when the leader corrected him.

By the time Kim and Puggsy came home, they were halfway through a science textbook. “I see the home-schooling went well,” Puggsy deadpanned, seeing Fangs still asleep at the table.

“How are you doing? Anything you need help with?” Kim asked Dustin.

“He’s been doing pretty well,” Biff answered first, as Dustin was filling out a worksheet in the textbook. “He did great learning English, barely struggled with math--- anytime he made a mistake he was pretty coolheaded about it, not getting frustrated one bit!”

“He must get his brains from my side,” Puggsy said with a grin.

There came a yawn as Fangs walked out. “Oh hey Dustin--- sorry I fell asleep on ya,” he said, stretching. “…I think one of you guys should teach him about History--- stuff like that knocks me out every time.”

The shorter teen scoffed. “Thinking too much knocks you out every time,”

Fangs sneered. “I’ll knock YOU out,”

“Yeah?! Try it---“

“Are you two fighting?” Dustin asked, looking up at them with concern.

Fangs and Puggsy paused, feigning grins. “Nah, we’re just picking on each other, that’s all.”

“Yeah, best friends do it all the time!” Fangs assured.

“Maybe you guys shouldn’t ‘pick on each other’ in front of Dustin.” Kim said in a light-scolding tone.

“Right… sorry.” Fangs looked at Dustin. “Should we pick up with your schoolwork?”

“It’s alright--- Biff helped me out with everything. I think I can handle it now,” Dustin said, putting away his books. “Can I take a break?”

“Sure. C’mon, you can help me decide what we should have for dinner,” Biff said, and they walked into the kitchen.

Once their kid was out of earshot, Puggsy gave Fangs a disapproving look. “Seriously? You fell asleep while babysitting?” the shorter teen questioned.

“History always puts me to sleep!” Fangs said in defense.

“If you knew that, why didn’t you just skip the history lesson and work on something else?”

“Because… um…”

“You weren’t thinking, were ya?”

“S-Shut up! I didn’t see you offer to tutor him!”

“’Cuz I was at work!”

“That’s enough, you two!” Kim snapped, grabbing them by their arms and pulling them over to her and Biff’s room. “Fangs, if you want to prove you’re responsible, focus on _being_ responsible! Puggsy has a point--- you can’t just fall asleep when you’re alone with Dustin. As heavy as a sleeper you are, he could have gotten into trouble and you’d have slept through it! Taking care of a kid isn’t all about fun and games, you should know that.”

Fangs cringed, a bit guilty.

Kim turned to Puggsy. “And you watch yourself too, Pugs! You can’t pick fights with Fangs in front of Dustin--- it might scare him, or it might have a negative influence on him. If you want to prove you’re a good role-model, you have to _act_ like one as long as he’s around. No more insults, criticizing, or pushing Fangs around.”

Puggsy crossed his arms. “Geez, why don’t you just tell me to stop breathing air?”

Kim prodded his chest. “That includes no smart-ass remarks!”

Fangs gasped. “Kimmy… language!”

Puggsy sighed. “Alright, alright. We’ll do better--- it’s only for a little while, after all.”

“I’m just glad Biff was around,” Fangs admitted. “Helping Dustin with his schoolwork and everything,”

“Yeah, he is a smart guy. Dustin can learn a thing or two from him,” Kim said.

“Just as long as he’s learning, I guess.” Puggsy said, rubbing the back of his neck. He paused, sniffing. “Um, does anyone else smell smoke?”

The trio ran to the kitchen, where there was smoke coming from a pan on one of the burners. Dustin was standing nearby with a cook-book, scratching his head, while Biff was using a cooking mitt to beat out the small flame. “Uncle Biff, I don’t think we needed that much cooking oil…” Dustin was reading.

“Just hurry and get the fire-extinguisher!” Biff said, having Dustin rush over to a cabinet. He turned to the others, who were gawking; he let out a sheepish chuckle. “Um, I’m just, uh… giving Dustin a crash-course on kitchen safety!”

“…Okay, maybe he can’t learn _everything_ from Biff,” Kim whispered under her breath.


	9. Puggsy's Turn

“ _Absolutely_ not!”

Puggsy couldn’t stress this point any further than he did that Saturday night. Kim was working late at the café, and Biff had to stay at the office to finish up some paperwork and claimed the guys would be on their own with Dustin until at least 9 PM.

And right after dinner (Puggsy cooked), Dustin wanted to watch _The Ring_ on the HBO Horror channel. Having never watched a scary movie before, he figured it would be a fun experience.

Puggsy felt otherwise.

“Please, Dad? I’ve seen the commercials--- it looks really freaky!” Dustin said, though sounded hyped. “We can make popcorn, and drink sodas, and take turns watching the screen when the scary parts come up!”

Puggsy turned to Fangs. “And what’s YOUR input on this?”

“I kinda wanted to see the movie…” Fangs said, rubbing his arm.

“What the---?! You know movies like these freak you out!”

“But I have to know! Why is the videotape cursed? Who is the girl, and why was she in a well? What could all those images mean?!” he then held up a novel. “..And is the subject matter true to the original source material or did the studio take creative liberties like they do with everything?!”

“But it’s also PG-13, which means Dustin isn’t old enough to watch it.”

“I’ve seen PG-13 movies before. I can handle it!” Dustin said, crossing his arms and giving an irritated look. Funny, he always seemed to resemble Puggsy when he was ticked off…

“The answer is still no--- for BOTH of you!” Puggsy gave Fangs a stern look to emphasize this.

“Aww…” Fangs and Dustin whined.

“Ah--- no whining! Dustin you can watch the movie when you’re older--- Fangs you can watch it when you grow a spine.”

Dustin sighed. “Fine…” he muttered, turning on the DVD player. “I’ll just watch _The Boy and the Beast_ again.”

“We have GOT to get him interested in a new movie,” Fangs whispered to Puggsy. “Sooner or later he’s going to want to take up kendo!”

“You still can’t watch it, Fangs.” Puggsy sneered.

Fangs grimaced, grabbing a _Garfield_ comic book. “Fine. I’ll just hang out on the balcony for two hours!”

Puggsy shrugged. “Have at it.”

Fangs walked out as Dustin switched the input on the television to the DVD player. Just then, Puggsy’s cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID before answering. “Hey Mom. …What? …WHAT?!” his face went red as his eyes grew wide. “No Mom, it’s not like that--- no, we’re not like that! …No, a machine was involved--- some sort of clone machine! …I don’t know how it worked! … *sigh* Yes, I KNOW you’re too young to be a grandmother…”

He paused, looking at Dustin, before walking into the kitchen, keeping the mouth-piece covered. “(We’re giving the kid away… No, I’m not being a deadbeat, I’m being responsible! …For crying out loud, Mom, my sex life has nothing to do with this!)” He poked his head back in the living room to check on Dustin, before going back to the conversation. “…No, Mom, you don’t have to send anything. …The kid has plenty of clothes. …He has more than enough toys. …*sigh* He doesn’t need a baby-blanket, he’s nine-years-old! …What?! I stopped sleeping with mine BEFORE that age! …I did so! …Did so! …Ugh, fine, whatever! Go ahead and send something, if you want… No I don’t know if he’ll still be with us around Chirstmas, that’s six months from now…!”

Dustin watched as Puggsy took his phone conversation out to the apartment hall.

He looked out, seeing that Fangs was still reading. Smirking, the nine-year-old changed the input back to cable, and turned on _The Ring._

For the next 80 minutes, he sat there staring wide-eyed at the confusing-yet-horrific scenes… the twisted faces of Samara’s victims, the disturbing images that played on the cursed tape, the uncomfortable atmosphere of each scene as the two main characters searched for clues.

He was watching the scene where Samara crawled out of the television, her eerie expression getting a close-up as she cornered the male lead.... when the door clicked. Dustin gasped and quickly changed the input back as Puggsy walked in.

The shorter teen had his face in his palm. “…For the last time, Mom, I CHOOSE to be a bachelor… I thought you said you were too old for grandkids?! …No, Mom, I am NOT interested in your book club friend’s daughter! …Look, I’ve got a lot on my plate right now. We’ll talk about it more later. …Bye.” He hung up, letting out an exasperated sigh.

Dustin looked at him curiously.

Puggsy gave him a nod. “…My mom says ‘hi’.” He said awkwardly, before storming into the kitchen.

Fangs at this time was getting a soda. “Hey, Pugs. What’s up?” he asked.

The shorter teen only gave him a crossed look. “Any reason why your Facebook status reads, ‘We have a kid now!’--- with ME tagged?!”

Fangs blinked. “Um… April Fools?”

“It’s June!”

“Oh. Well, you see---“ Fangs took this opportunity to run to his room and lock the door.

Puggsy chased after him but wasn’t able to catch his friend. “You’d better delete that status, otherwise your next post will be the date of your funeral!”

Dustin cocked his head. “Are you fighting again?”

Puggsy flinched. “Ah, no… just telling Fangs to be careful _what he puts on the internet_!” he stressed that last part towards Fangs’ bedroom door. He noticed Dustin looked a bit pale. “Hey, are you feeling alright? You don’t look so good.”

“Fine, fine. I’m going to, um, go take a bath.” Dustin made his way to the bathroom.

“Alright--- but don’t flood the tub with bubbles like you did last time!”

Dustin nodded. After fifteen minutes, he was sitting in the bubble-filled tub with an assortment of rubber duckies, toy boats, and plush-animal loofas… most if not all belonged to Fangs. He sighed, trying to concentrate on playing with the bath toys more than what he saw in that scary movie.

He jumped when he heard running outside the hall, followed by a yelp. From what he could guess, Dad (Fangs) was sneaking out to make sure the coast was clear, only to be caught by Dad (Puggsy), who chased after him again; from the snappy remarks and occasional thuds, it sounded like there was no escape for the lanky teen this time.

Dustin listened as Puggsy forced Fangs to delete the post before anyone else could see it. After some arguing, Puggsy made the point that the maniac who had attacked them back in Japan could see it and track them down. Fangs deleted it… then brought up posts he shared on other social websites. There was more shouting from Daddy #1.

 _Dad sure sounds pissed._ Dustin thought, though wouldn’t speak those words out loud--- the first time he cursed was when he spilled lemonade on the floor, and Puggsy warned him that next time he’d be drinking vinegar water if he swore again.

To him, Puggsy was the stern, tough-love father. While Fangs would play or watch movies with him, Puggsy would be having him do chores or work on his schoolwork, not wanting the kid to be spoiled. Dustin listened to him--- not just out of respect for his guardian, but also because his father could be pretty aggressive when it came to discipline.

How aggressive, Dustin didn’t know and wasn’t going to find out. If his other dad was scared of him, that was good enough reason to heed his first dad’s authority.

…though he still wished they wouldn’t fight…

He drained the tub and changed into some pajamas, stepping out to find Biff and Kim coming home, the two immediately heading to bed as they were tired from a long day at work. “It’s raining hard out there--- we’re lucky we clocked out before the storm got too heavy to drive in.” Kim stated after grabbing a light snack before bed.

Fangs also decided to turn in, claiming he was tired from deleting some ‘personal statuses’ for the last 15 minutes. “…Does anyone even use Myspace anymore?” he wondered aloud, walking into his own bedroom to check the webpage on his laptop.

Puggsy was the last one up, heading to the shower while Dustin settled on the couch, turning on some cartoons; he was still unnerved about the movie. Maybe the others wouldn’t mind if he fell asleep with the lights on.

“I’m going to bed,” Puggsy told him once he was done, heading into his bedroom. “Don’t stay up too late.”

“Okay,” Dustin replied, though had a feeling he wouldn’t be getting a lot of sleep tonight.

Once he was alone in the living room, his nerves continued to break. Outside of the television, it was too quiet. _It’s okay. I’ll just watch TV for a while and fall asleep._ He told himself, focusing on the goofy cartoons on the screen. _Yeah. Just watch cartoons, fall asleep, and by the time the sun comes up I’ll feel better. Nothing bad happens during the day, right?_

…Then again, bad things always happened during the day in that movie. Ironically more than it did in the night scenes!

Just focus on the cartoons, then. Keep the lights on. As long as he had light and sound to distract him, the scary scenes will stay out of his mind.

*Bzzt!*

That is, unless the storm knocked out the power. “Shit!” Dustin cursed quietly; he covered his mouth, remembering his father’s warning about foul language.

The room was dark; outside the rain hit against the balcony doors, lightening flashing and highlighting the kitchen. The nine-year-old trembled and hugged a _Freddy Fazbear_ plush he had gotten from the store the first day of his arrival.

This was just how it started out in the movie. He looked around, expecting some creepy girl to approach him and scare him, rearrange his face, and leave him dead in the closet for his fathers to find in the morning…

 _Stop it… it’s just a movie… it’s just a movie!_ He told himself. That’s what Fangs first told him when they watched Jurassic World and the kid asked if the gang ever visited the theme park. Hollywood always used special effects to excite, scare, or fascinate people in order to help sell their movies.

Though sometimes those effects were TOO special…

Thunder rolled as lightning flashed again, making the boy jump. There was no way he could stay out in the living room alone tonight!

Wrapping his blanket around himself, he shuffled across the floor--- hurrying as he passed the kitchen and saw lightning cast shadows across the floor. He looked down the hall where Fangs’ room was… but as dark as it was at the end of the hall, he couldn’t muster up the courage to walk even five steps that way.

Puggsy’s room was closer, and the better option. As tough as his father was, he could probably scare off anything that came into his room.

…Including Dustin. The boy was hesitant; what would happen if he woke up Puggsy?

He looked back at the television; images of a ghost crawling out of a well came to mind…

That provoked him to enter the room; Puggsy was still awake, looking at his iPhone in the dark--- upon hearing the door creak open, he used its flashlight-feature to look over. “Dustin…? What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I… um… the lights went out. Can you fix them?” Dustin asked, though immediately felt stupid.

“’Fraid not, kid. The power probably won’t come back on ‘til the storm passes,”

“Okay… c-can I stay in here for the night?”

Puggsy looked at him a moment. “…You watched a scary movie, didn’t you?”

The boy flinched (immediately giving himself away). “W-What makes you think I did?” he stammered in defense, though tried to keep a firm expression.

The shorter teen rolled his eyes. “Because there is no way you were only five minutes into your other movie while I was on the phone for over an hour. …Plus, I saw Fangs watching from the kitchen, shaking like a maraca before ducking back in, hoping I didn’t notice.” He leaned back, looking at his phone again. “Plus, you got my DNA, and I’ve been pulling stunts like that since I was five.”

“Then why didn’t you yell at me?”

Puggsy shrugged. “Same reason I didn’t yell at Fangs--- letting you two stay up late with fear is the perfect punishment.”

Dustin shifted. “So… since I disobeyed you, you’re going to make me sit in the dark, scared?”

He looked at the boy, seeing that he wasn’t just scared, he was disappointed--- having come in here in an hour of need, only to find out his cowardice was all part of a game of discipline. Puggsy sighed, slamming a palm on one side of the bed. “Nah… I’ll give you a pass for tonight, since you’re new to this sort of thing. But next time, you’re going to have to deal with it yourself.”

The nine-year-old sighed with relief and hurried over to the other side of the bed, quickly burrowing under the covers and huddling close to his dad. “Thanks, Dad--- eep!” he ducked under the blanket when thunder roared again.

 _Great. He has my rebelliousness, but Fangs’ nerve._ Puggsy thought. “…Try not to wet the bed, alright?” he quipped.

Dustin poked his head out, glaring--- once again striking a resemblance to his tough father. “I’m not a bed-wetter!” he snapped… then gasped when lightning flashed, and he clung to Puggsy, shaking.

The shorter teen scoffed, holding in a chuckle. He rubbed Dustin’s back, helping the kid calm down. “It’s alright, Dustin. No creepo is going to bust in here and hurt you--- not without dealing with ME first.”

Dustin looked up at him. “S-So… you’ll protect me?”

Puggsy nodded. The boy sighed again with relief, hugging him tighter. The short teen had to smile--- it was nice to feel appreciated like this…

He reached over the side of the bed, picking up a wooden baseball bat and lying it next to his kid. “Here. Just in case I need backup,” he told him.

Dustin held the bat a moment, nodding before laying back down--- bat at his side, he stuck close to Puggsy.

The two of them dosed off moments later.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was around 1 AM when the storm passed, the sky clear and showing the moon and stars.

That’s when Dustin heard a noise and woke up Puggsy. “Dad…Dad, wake up! I-I think I heard something down the hall!” the boy whimpered, shaking his father’s shoulder.

“Huh…? What?” Puggsy groggily asked, sitting up. “What did you hear?”

“I-I-It sounded l-like a growl...”

Puggsy paused, then looked out the window, seeing the moon in the sky.

If Fangs had been waiting for the storm to pass and the power to come back on before falling asleep…

“Oh, no…” Puggsy groaned.

As if on cue, the door flew open and something large and furry bounded into the room, snarling and snorting---

*BAM!*

…and seeing stars.

“B-Back off!” Dustin stammered after swinging the bat.

Puggsy turned on the light (glad to see the power was working again), and gawked. He then covered his face, short gasps emitting from him as his shoulders shook.

Biff and Kim came into the room after hearing the commotion. “What happened? OH!” Kim cried, seeing the furry form sprawled dazed on the floor.

“F-Fangface!” Biff gasped, kneeling down and examining the large bump on the werewolf’s head.

Dustin turned to Puggsy, who was hunched over now, still shaking. “Dad, are you okay?” he asked.

“Are you kidding?” Puggsy said… standing up straight and letting out a restrained laugh. “I’m so damn proud!”


	10. Fangface Meets Dustin

“Fangface, are you okay?” Kim asked the werewolf, helping him up.

“…Price check, Aisle 12…” Fangface responded, quite dizzy as a bump grew on the top of his head.

Dustin sat close to Puggsy, trembling. “What… what… what IS that thing?!” he asked. “And-And… how do YOU guys know it?!”

Fangface shook off his daze, giving the 9-year-old a look. “FIRST of all, I am not an ‘it’ or a ‘thing’--- I am a ‘he’ and a ‘werewolf’! Second… who are YOU, and what’re you doing in Puggsy’s room?! *grr*”

“How do you know Dad?!”

“He’s my best friend! *grr*” Fangface froze. “Wait… DAD?!” he looked at Puggsy. “PUGS! You never told me you had a KID! *grr* Sheesh, you think you know a guy…”

“Um… Fangface?” Biff stated, wondering how to break the news to the werewolf about his sudden parenthood. “This is Dustin. And… well… he’s kinda your kid too.”

Dustin looked at Fangface, bewildered. “HUH?! How am I related to that th--- I mean, a werewolf? …By the way, what IS a werewolf?” he asked.

“Come into the kitchen, Dustin. I’ll tell you about it,” Kim said, guiding Dustin out of the room.

“Okay, and while she explains it to him--- can someone explain everything to ME?!” Fangface demanded, rubbing his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so confused in my entire life!”

“(I doubt that,)” Puggsy muttered. “Break it to him easy, Biff. He might have trouble comprehending everything,”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll have trouble completing--- compromising--- what he said! *grr*” Fangface agreed.

“Well… Dustin… happens to be yours and Puggsy’s son--- um, biologically speaking.” Biff said. Puggsy slapped his forehead.

“Oh, he’s our son. Okay.” The werewolf nodded in understanding… then developed a shocked expression. “WAIT A MINUTE! Are you saying… I GOT PUGGSY _PREGNANT_?!”

“No! Not that way!”

“He got ME pregnant?!”

“Do you even know how pregnatizing works?!” Puggsy snapped.

“I happen to know plenty about it!” Fangface scoffed, crossing his arms; he paused for a beat. “…But just so we’re on the same page, how does it work?”

Puggsy face-palmed. “Huh, boy…”

“Well, Dustin wasn’t… ‘made’ that way,” Biff said. He then explained what happened back at the laboratory--- how he and Kim tampered with the machine so that, rather than making an adult super-warrior, they made a child; and rather than the DNA of two powerful samurai warriors being used, Puggsy and Fangface’s DNA was accidentally used.

“…Long story short, we had to bring Dustin back with us because that psycho-samurai is still loose in Japan,” Puggsy wrapped up. “Now, we have to keep him until social services can find him a good fostercate family,”

Fangface nodded. “Okay… but there’s one thing I don’t understand. Why can’t WE just keep him? *grr* I’m good with kids! You’ve seen how good Fangpuss and I get along!”

“Yeah… I have the bite-marks to remind me,”

“Dustin is a great kid, Fangface, but it’s a lot of responsibility,” Biff said. “He’s still learning about the world around him, and we don’t have the time or budget to help him with everything. There’s the matter of sending him to school, our jobs and managing a budget, making sure he gets a good meal…”

“Biff’s right, Fangface. Taking care of kids ain’t all fun and games,”

“That is a good point *grr* a good point…” Fangface rubbed his chin. “So, if Dustin has my DNA… is he a werewolf too?”

Puggsy and Biff exchanged glances. “Well… he hasn’t sprouted fur and fangs since he moved in with us, if that tells you anything.”

“We’ll talk about it more in the morning. Right now, lets all get back to bed; Fangface, you can have a fresh start with Dustin tomorrow,” Biff advised.

“I’m wearing a helmet just in case…” Fangface muttered, rubbing his still-bruised head as he walked back to his room.

Puggsy grinned. “…I think Dustin’s earned his allowance for the week,”

Biff rolled his eyes. “It can come out of YOUR account,” he scoffed, leaving the room.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

“So… Fangs doesn’t know he’s a werewolf?” Dustin asked after Kim explained everything. “Why don’t you guys tell him?”

“We’ve tried in the past, but he never believed us.” Kim replied, sighing. “Someday he will. I think his mind is still child-like enough that he can’t quite grasp the concept yet,”

“Kind of like how there’s still things I have to understand?”

“Right… but you’re a fast learner. You’ve been working hard with your homework, and once we have time off we can show you around the city,”

“Okay…” Dustin looked down the hall, seeing Fangface go back to his room. Biff walked into the kitchen seconds later. “So… if one of my dads is a werewolf, does that mean I’m one too?”

Kim pondered a bit, looking up at Biff. “Well… maybe not. See, in Fangface’s family, werewolves are only born every 400 years.”

“Then again…” Biff pondered aloud. “Dustin wasn’t ‘born’ the same way as other kids.”

Dustin cocked his head. “How ARE other kids born, exactly?”

Biff flinched. “Ah, that’s… something your dads can tell you.”

“Why? What’s the big mystery?”

“That’s enough questions for tonight, Dustin. Go back to bed, and we’ll talk more tomorrow, okay?” Kim coaxed, guiding Dustin back to Puggsy’s room. Once the boy was back in bed, she walked over to Biff. “So, what do you think? Is it possible Dustin might be like Fangface?”

Biff shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see,” he sighed. “For now, let’s hope things will go smoothly from here on out.”

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sirens blared at the prison as guards ran down the hall, seeing several of their comrades had been taken out. The jail-cell that had held their recent criminal was empty, no doubt being the cause of the frenzy.

While the authorities were issuing a Lock Down and searching the grounds for the escapee… she was already walking through the port disguised as a tourist, boarding a ship heading to America.

Liana Yang sat down in her stateroom, taking out her duffel bag and pulling out what appeared to be a normal yoga mat… but when unfolded, showed a variety of shurikens, throwing knives, darts, daggers, and a pair of sais.

She smirked, looking out the window. It would be a few days until the ship reached its destination, and from there she would have much tracking to do.

But once the score was settled, it would all be worth it.


	11. Coffee, Anyone?

Fangface couldn’t say he slept well that night, or if he had slept at all. Of course, he went several nights without sleep in the past, the adrenaline of facing various villains and morbid monsters always keeping him awake until sunrise (which is probably when he fell asleep, as he couldn’t remember what else happened the moment he saw the sunrise).

But this was different. The last thing he remembered was being inside that lab… then suddenly he’s back in the apartment, getting bonked on the head by a child who--- as Biff had explained--- carried his genes because of that machine. _Mom and Dad never told me about THIS when giving me ‘the talk’!_ he thought, pacing and scratching his head.

He just couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Sure, he always wanted to have kids of his own someday--- heck, Fangpuss pretty much looked up to him as a role-model! But he didn’t expect to become a father so soon! He was hoping to meet a nice she-wolf first, get married, honeymoon at Disneyland, move into a big house, then get started on raising a big family, hoping to have up to 7 kids—and a dog, because what kind of family is complete without a dog?

This, however, was waaaaaaaay off from that plan. For one thing, he wasn’t married, and rather than a she-wolf he had PUGGSY being the other parent! What would his mother say if she found out he and his best friend had a kid?! (…for some reason he had a dream about posting the news on facebook and reading her stunned reaction…)

Genetics aside, he was barely ready to call himself a parent. Sure, he and Fangpuss bonded great, but he never had to watch his cousin on a 24/7 365-days-a-year basis, or worry about his college tuition, or buying him new clothes and toys, or whatever else fathers are supposed to do! He was barely an adult himself! He didn’t even have a job!

On the other hand, the idea of taking care of Dustin wasn’t really bad at all. Part of him may be in shock about sudden parenthood, but the other half was excited about having a kid of his own to raise! The things he could teach him, the fun they could have, the memories to be made… it was all so new and he was anxious to experience every bit of it!

He wanted to run out the door and head to Puggsy’s room to get reacquainted with the boy--- mainly show him he wasn’t a threat and there was no need to swing a baseball bat at his head—but he stopped himself. It was late at night, and since the kid looked pretty shook up earlier, rushing back in would probably scare him.

He thought about the first time he met Fangpuss; just a tiny tuft of fur back then, his infant cousin could barely crawl yet. Every time Fangface went by him, the small furball would growl in alarm, curious but cautious of the larger werewolf. His aunt had explained that sometimes infants had to get used to new faces before they were comfortable enough to be held by them. After a few visits and couple babysitting jobs, Fangpuss managed to warm up to him--- soon it got to the point where he didn’t want to leave his side!

Dustin was probably no different. He would need time to get used to his furry-father-figure, before Fangface could plan a whole weekend of playing catch or going fishing.

He lied back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He wondered how long it would take…

*Knock Knock!*

“Um… Fangface? Er, Dad? I mean… Fangdad? (crud, what do I call him?)”

Hearing the boy’s voice on the other side of the door, the werewolf sat up. “Come in,” he called.

The door slowly creaked open; within the span of a minute, Dustin peeked in. “Um… did I wake you?” he asked, looking a bit nervous.

“Nah. Werewolves are noctangle—nectar—noncore… we don’t sleep at night (grr). …Is something wrong?”

“No, I just couldn’t sleep. I didn’t think one of my dads would be a werewolf… I didn’t even know what a werewolf was until tonight!” Dustin rubbed the back of his neck, slowly making his way over. “I’m sorry I hit you. See, I watched a scary movie tonight, and Dad--- that is, Puggsy--- he gave me a baseball bat so I could protect myself, and well then I heard howling and you came into the room and… I panicked.”

“Ooh, ooh, remind me not to come knocking on your door if you watch scary movies then,” Fangface rubbed his head to add emphasis to his joke.

“Why were you running into his room anyway? The way you were snarling… I was worried you were going to attack him!”

Wuh oh. Day one of being a dad, and he sets a bad first impression. “Er, well, yeah… I mean, I always attack Pugs--- b-but in a friendly way!”

Dustin crossed his arms, giving him a suspicious look ( _oh crud, he has Puggsy’s glare!)_ “Oh yeah? How so?”

“Well, you see… I don’t really do anything to hurt him (grr) no way, we’re pals! See, sometimes he insults me, so in return I harass him. Mostly all I do is pick him up and shake him, (grr) but I wouldn’t do anything to land him in the hospital or anything!”

The boy considered this. He did recall how much Puggsy would push Fangs around. Even if the werewolf had no memory of being human, perhaps he was giving Daddy #1 a taste of his own medicine. “Still, I want you to be nice to him, okay? You’re both my dads, and I don’t like seeing you two fight,”

“Okay, Dustin, okay (grr) I promise, I won’t attack Pugs anymore (…unless he deserves it),”

“What?”

“Nothing!” Fangface cleared his throat, looking at the clock. “It’s pretty late. Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

“No. Aunt Kim got me books so I could be home-schooled. There’s a lot about the world I don’t know,”

“That makes two of us (grr) like, I didn’t know kids could come out of machines!”

“…Where do they normally come from?”

Fangface froze. Crap, why did he have to be the one answering the difficult questions?! “Um… we’ll talk about that later. Actually, Puggsy can tell ya! (grr) He claims he knows it all, so you can ask him! Right now, uh, you should get back to bed.”

“Okay,” Dustin began to walk out, looking back at him. “Hey, you’re going to be home tomorrow, right?”

“Of course! (grr) I don’t think I had any plans,”

The boy beamed, as if the shock of earlier was never there. “Awesome! Lets play together tomorrow, okay? I want to see what having a werewolf for a dad will be like!”

Fnagface shrugged. “Sounds good to me!”

“Night, Dad!” with that, Dustin ran out.

The werewolf stood there a moment, a soft smile spreading on his face. “Night… son,”

0o0

Biff was surprised when he got up at 6:30 that morning, finding Dustin was already at the table hitting the books. “Whoa! What are you doing up so early?” the leader asked. “I figured you’d be sleeping in after all the excitement last night,”

“That’s why I’m awake now,” Dustin replied with a wired tone, and Biff noticed a coffee mug right next to him. “I got up early so I could get all my homework done and spend time with Dad--- the werewolf one--- and not have to worry about falling behind on homework because Aunt Kim said I won’t be able to go to school if I don’t know the right material even though there are teachers in schools already that can teach me but it’s still important that I learn as much as possible so I don’t miss out on anything by the way we’re out of coffee.”

Biff blinked. The kid spoke so quickly, it was hard to register everything. He only caught a little bit. “So, you’re getting work done early, so you can spend the whole day with Fangface?”

“Yeah I’m excited about having a werewolf for a dad even though it was scary at first but he said he won’t attack Dad--- Puggsy—anymore while I’m around because I don’t like to see them fight because they seem to fight a lot don’t they? I mean they say they’re friends but Dad--- Puggsy--- is always chasing after Dad--- Fangs--- because he does something to make him mad then all of a sudden Dad--- Fangface--- is attacking Dad--- Puggsy—because he was being mean to Dad--- Fangs--- even though he doesn’t remember it hey what’s the capital of Nebraska?”

The leader looked at the mug, then over at the coffee-pot, which had once been full to the brim but now held only a single drop. “Dustin… how much coffee did you drink?”

“I lost count after 4 by the way did you know Brazil is the coffee capital of the world? I learned that in my social studies book and Switzerland makes a lot of chocolate I could really go for chocolate right now do we have any? Can we go to Switzerland and get some? Speaking of which what’s for breakfast?”

Carefully, Biff slid the coffee cup away from Dustin. “I think you’ve had enough caffeine for the day. You shouldn’t drink too much, it’s not good for your heart rate, and you’ll end up crashing,”

“Crashing? I’m not even driving! I---“

*thud!*

“Zzzzzzzzz…” Dustin snored, his face now planted on his geography book.

Kim walked in within that moment. “Aww, how cute. He fell asleep doing homework!” she whispered.

“He actually just fell asleep,” Biff told her, before looking over some worksheets Dustin had filled out, his eyes wide. “Wow, he must have been pretty wired if he filled out this much,” he squinted. “…although, I don’t think he was concentrating well enough--- unless 5 x 7 = Atlanta, Georgia.”

“Why do you think he was cramming?”

“Heh, he said he got up early so he could get as much work done as possible. He’s going to spend the whole day with Fangface, so he was pretty excited,”

“Zzzz… *snort* zzz… no, Kyuta, gimme the bo-staff back, it’s my turn… zzz…” Dustin mumbled in his sleep.

“I think he’d be more comfortable in bed,” Kim walked over, shaking his shoulder. “Dustin? Wake up,”

“Gah! Samara! Someone change the channel! …Huh?” Dustin gasped, snapping awake. He rubbed his eyes. “Oh… sorry, did I fall asleep?”

“Go back to bed, Dustin. You can do your homework when we get home, okay?” She rubbed his head.

“Okay… if you say… so…” Dustin blinked, looking at his worksheets. “Hey, what the…? Okay, who’s the jokester who wrote fractions on my history questions?!”

The two leaders chuckled. “We’ll talk about it later… And no more coffee until you’re older, got it?” Biff said. “It’ll stunt your growth,”

Dustin cocked his head. “Is that why one of my dads is shorter than everyone?”

“Excusify me?”

The boy gave a yelp, seeing Puggsy had just entered the kitchen. “Um… nevermind! Gosh, is it this early? I’m going back to bed--- night! Er, Morning…! Whatever!” Dustin then hurried out of the room.

Puggsy shook his head, looking at the two leaders, the coffee cup, and the worksheets covered in mix-matched answers. “…Do I even want to know?”

“Dustin was trying to get his work done so he could spend the whole day with Fangface. I told him he could do his homework when we got back,” Kim replied, getting started on breakfast.

“Ha! Like I’m going to leave the nit-wolf alone with the kid all day. Someone’s got to superiormize those two and keep ‘em outta trouble,”

Kim crossed her arms, giving him a stern look. “Didn’t I tell you to stop being so hard on him?”

He raised his hands in defense. “Look, I ain’t trying to be a jerk here, but you saw how Fangs was the first day--- he fell asleep! Not to mention the two of them watched a horrifyable movie that freaked the kid out while I was out of the apartment. When it comes to Fangface… well, he may need some help too on what’s okay and what’s not okay. I mean, the kid has both our DNA after all, so it’s going to take two of us to teach the kid a few things,”

Biff and Kim exchanged glances. “…Since when were you so set on being a parent?” the leader asked.

Puggsy sneered. “Since my mother called me up asking why she has a grandson already,”

“Alright, but I expect you to be nice around him.” Kim replied. “What about work, though? Will your boss let you have the day off?”

“I asked him to put me on part-time after the first three days so I could help keep an eye on the kid more often; I’ll go back to full-time either when Dustin’s able to handle himself, or Miss Angeline tells us she found him some parents,”

Kim sat down at the table, resting her chin on her palm. “After the last few days, I wonder if Dustin would want to go with anyone else. I mean, he likes all of us!”

“Well, we all agreed on the decision,” Biff sighed. “I mean, we can still visit him, but it’s not like we have the funds to take care of him forever,”

Puggsy shook his head. “Let’s not talk about it now, alright? The kid’s with us, so he’s our responsibility.” He rubbed his face. “…right now, how about some coffee?”

“Um…” Biff looked in the coffee container, finding it scarce of a single grind. “We’re out.”

“Already?! That container was full! Who drank all the coffee?!”

Dustin, who was about to walk over and turn on the TV, quickly turned back around and retreated into the bedroom.


End file.
